PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Portsmouth Police Department said a 'use of force' investigation is underway and a detective is charged after an assault on a man.
It happened around 1:30 Thursday morning while detectives were doing surveillance on a homicide suspect near George Washington Highway.
Portsmouth Interim Chief of Police Stephen Jenkins held a press conference to discuss what happened.
Jenkins said the detectives overheard men in the area threatening violence against them. The detectives then called for backup. Shortly after, an unknown person smashed the window of one of the unarmed surveillance vehicles.
"Even heard words such as 'shoot him'. At some point, those unknown individuals broke out windows to one of the surveillance vehicles," Jenkins said.
Once other detectives came to the scene, police said they took two people into custody.
"The detectives inside of that vehicle notified other detectives in the area who quickly responded to assist," Jenkins said.
Footage from Portsmouth Police shows a short bit of body camera video of the incident. A detective can be seen handcuffing a person who Jenkins said was on the ground, following instructions. As the video zooms in, another detective is seen approaching and hitting the person in the face as they were being placed into custody.
Police said the detective and the individual involved are two Black males.
"The individual that was being taken into custody was compliant he sat himself down on the ground. Detectives moved behind him to place him into custody. As they were placing him, the other detective can be seen coming up to him, drawing back and striking him," said Jenkins.
Jenkins admitted that what happened was uncalled for.
"That individual was compliant," Jenkins said. "He was complying with the detectives that were attempting to place him into custody. At no point should anyone have struck him while he was taken into custody."
Warrants were secured for simple assault Friday morning, and the detective was suspended without pay from the department pending this investigation. Jenkins did not share the name of the officer involved.
