Department of Justice launches federal civil rights investigation into violent Arkansas arrest caught on video

The Department of Justice has opened a federal civil rights investigation into the violent arrest of a 27-year-old man in Arkansas on Sunday, a department spokesperson confirmed to CBS News on Monday. The investigation will be separate from the state probe into the arrest, which was captured on video. 

The video shows the three officers repeatedly hitting 27-year-old Randal Worcester of Goose Creek, South Carolina. One officer repeatedly strikes Worcester with a closed fist while another knees him several times in the lower body. The officers are also seen slamming Worcester's head into the pavement.

Crawford County Sheriff Jim Damante said Monday that none of the three officers were wearing body cameras. The Mulberry police officer's vehicle was equipped with a dash cam.

"The dash cam does bring to light other things that did happen there that initiated, that wasn't caught on the citizen's camera," Damante said.

Also Monday, officials identified the three law enforcement officials who have been suspended over the arrest: Crawford County Sheriff's Office deputies Zack King and Levi White and Mulberry police officer Thell Riddle. 

The officers were responding to a report of a man making threats outside a convenience store Sunday in the small town of Mulberry, about 140 miles northwest of Little Rock, near the border with Oklahoma, authorities said.  

According to Damante, a man was allegedly making "terroristic threats" against a gas station employee. The man, identified as Worcester, allegedly threatened to cut the employee's face off at one point. He then left and biked about seven miles before officers caught up with him.

Damante claims that Worcester, who is White, surrendered a knife to the officers and then "football tackled" one of the deputies and punched him in the back of the head. The violent arrest captured on video then followed, according to Damante.

None of the officers were rookies, Damante said Monday, telling reporters that all three had been in law enforcement for some time. The sheriff's office is conducting an internal investigation in addition to the Arkansas State Police's criminal investigation, Damante said.

Worcester was initially taken to a local hospital for treatment. After his release, he was taken to Van Buren County Jail.

Worcester has been charged with second degree battery, resisting arrest, refusal to submit, possessing an instrument of crime, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, terroristic threatening, and second degree assault, police said. 

Worcester was released Monday on $15,000 bond. When asked how he was feeling, he said "all right."  

Carrie Jernigan, an attorney representing Worcester, told CBS News that she had made a separate excessive force complaint for a different client against Deputy White. 

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, on Monday described the beating as "reprehensible conduct" and said the officers' actions were "not consistent" with the teachings of the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy.

Arkansas State Police Col. Bill Bryant said his agency's investigation would "take some time."

"Once we get the facts and evidence, we'll prepare a case file and a summary and turn it over to the prosecutor," Bryant said.

Cellphone video of often-violent police interactions has put a spotlight on officer conduct in recent years, particularly since the 2020 killing of George Floyd while he was being arrested by police in Minneapolis.

The resulting nationwide protests called attention to officer brutality that often targets Black Americans.

The front door at a building that serves as the Mulberry police headquarters and city hall was locked Monday. A sign on the door directed anyone with questions about "the police investigation" to contact Arkansas State Police.

Amid public pressure for transparency and the proliferation of videos exposing police misconduct, there has been some pushback against recording officers. In July, the governor of Arizona signed a bill that makes it illegal to knowingly record officers from 8 feet or closer without permission.

Mulberry is a town of 1,600 people on the southern edge of the Ozarks in western Arkansas, right off Interstate 40, which runs from California to North Carolina.