ACLU Claims Worthington Police Officer Assaulted Motorist

Worthington, MN (KROC-AM News) - The Worthington Police Department issued a statement Thursday concerning the American Civil Liberties Union’s request for an investigation into an arrest that occurred a year ago.

The ACLU has released a video of the arrest of a 21-year-old man to support allegations of the use of excessive force by the arresting officer. The video shows a police officer with his gun drawn approaching the man’s SUV demanding he exit the vehicle, and then nearly immediately punching and knee kicking the motorist while pulling him out and onto the street. The dash cam video was from the vehicle of another officer involved in the arrest (The alleged assault can be viewed at about 1:30 into the video at the top of this post). Warning! The video includes very strong language.

The joint statement with the Buffalo Ridge Drug Task Force and the Nobles County Attorney’s Office, says the video is “one piece of evidence in a pending criminal case, and viewed in a vacuum, shows only a short segment of the incident.” The law enforcement agencies also say they the practices law and criminal court procedural rules limit their ability to release and discuss the evidence.

The statement does reference a criminal complaint charging the 21-year-old man with two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, one count of fleeing an officer, possession of a small amount of marijuana and driving after revocation. The weapon in this case would be the motor vehicle.