BOLIVAR, Tenn. — Cell phone video of a Bolivar police officer slamming a man to the ground has received over 7,000 views and been shared more than 100 times on Facebook.
However, the Bolivar Police Department said this 7-second clip isn’t all there was to see.
“It’s like that little clip you look at on the social media, it doesn’t tell the whole story,” Bolivar Police Chief Pat Baker said Thursday.
Body camera video from one of the officers involved shows the encounter from a different view.
Investigators said Kyle Tucker ran from officers after they asked him not to go back into the store, then was shocked with a Taser, got up, tried to swing a knife at one of the officers and was eventually tackled and arrested.
“Now when you see the whole situation develop and what happened and even a knife being pulled on an officer and they still conducted themselves very appropriately,” Chief Baker said.
Tucker’s family believes the officers didn’t have to use the amount of force they did.
“I was shown a video of the police picking his body up and throwing it down,” Tucker’s mother, Linda Tucker said. “I’m sure he’s done wrong, but I would hate for that to happen to someone else and they end up dead either from the Taser or being body slammed like he was.”
Nonetheless, the police department stands by their officers and their video.
“One person’s word isn’t better than the other person’s, even if that one person is wearing a uniform,” Chief Baker said. “The whole video — not just a part — the whole video, that’s a big aid in helping us make a decision on whether the officer used proper conduct.”
Chief Baker said neither of the officers involved have had disciplinary issues while with the department.
All of the officers at the Bolivar Police Department have body cameras, which were purchased with grant money.
Tucker has been charged with two counts of assault on an officer, disorderly conduct, evading arrest and possession of drug paraphernalia.
His family said he is due in court on July 26.