San Francisco police have been accused of brutality after officers were caught on video hauling away 21-year-old D'Paris Charles 'DJ' Williams, screaming in pain, his face covered in blood, on Friday afternoon. His crime? Riding his bicycle on the sidewalk.
Both the police and Williams agree that Williams was indeed riding his bicycle on a sidewalk in the Valencia Gardens public housing complex in San Francisco's Mission District. Details of what happened next are not clear, however.
A friend of Williams told CBS San Francisco that undercover police officers stopped Williams, said something to him about riding on the sidewalk, then, apparently for no reason, grabbed him from behind and beat him. The same friend claimed others confirmed this story.
Family of Williams believe Williams didn't even hear the police officers when they tried to stop him, as he was wearing earphones at the time.
The police said Williams tried to flee into a residence after the undercover officers attempted to stop him for the minor traffic violation. He then resisted and became combative. The officers then used 'reasonable force' to detain him, according to police spokesman Officer Gordon Shyy.
In any case, video of the arrest shows Williams being pinned to the sidewalk while being handcuffed, then carried away moaning, with a bloody face.
The situation did not stop there. Residents in the neighborhood came to the young man's defense. Several uniformed officers attempted to quell the conflict, and in the end three other men were subdued and taken away in handcuffs, according to what can be seen in the video. One of the men was shown with blood running down his face, and according to the CBS report, two police officers were also injured; one suffered a bite and another was hit with a cane.
The Williams' plan to file a complaint against the police department.
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