Two Los Angeles police officers punched and choked a man last month while he was handcuffed, after the man spat at an officer, according to newly released body-worn camera footage from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).
On April 27, Los Angeles police responded to the 200 block of West 105th Street in South L.A. for a report of an assault with a deadly weapon, following a 911 caller’s allegation that Dominique Langlois assaulted another tenant living in a “transitional housing” residence.
The caller said that Langlois refused to leave the property and another tenant saw him go to the kitchen, making them “a little frightened that he might have picked up a kitchen knife or something like that,” the caller told the person on the other line.
A person who described themselves as the manager of the residence also called LAPD to report the incident and said that another tenant saw Langlois fetch a knife from the kitchen.
Police responded to the residence and made contact with Langlois in a second story master bedroom. After handcuffing Langlois and bringing him to his feet, Langlois “spat at” one of the more than half a dozen of officers standing around the room.
The officer responded by socking Langlois in the gut with his left hand. After Langlois spat at the officer again, another officer firmly grabbed Langlois by the neck with his right hand while he grimaced, choking him for several seconds.
Afterwards, officers took Langlois down to the ground, where more than six officers collectively pinned his arms and legs down with their body weight.
“Hold them on the ground,” a supervisor ordered.
“They trying to break my arm,” Langlois responded.
“Stop moving,” the supervisor said back.
In their initial statement after the April 27 arrest of Langlois, the LAPD did not say that Langlois was punched or that an officer grabbed him by the neck while he stood with his wrists behind his back.
A spokesperson for the LAPD did not respond to multiple emails asking for the name of the officer who choked Langlois.
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office charged Langlois with two counts of battery on a police officer and two counts of resisting arrest, according to an LAPD spokesperson.
Following the murder of George Floyd, in 2020 the LAPD banned “choke holds,” which they define as “any defensive tactic or force option in which direct pressure is applied to a person’s trachea or windpipe.”
This is not the first time an LAPD officer has put their hands around someone’s neck who was handcuffed or detained.
Last year, L.A. TACO reported that a veteran LAPD officer choked a suicidal music producer who was heavily intoxicated and handcuffed to a gurney, after the producer spat at police while having a mental health crisis.
Similarly, in 2021, an LAPD officer punched a man who was strapped to a gurney after he reportedly spat on the officer and firefighter personnel.
And in 2022, the Police Commission found that an LAPD sergeant broke policy when they kneeled on the neck of NBA player Jaxson Hayes.
All of these incidents were caught on video.
So you can imagine what cops get away with when they’re not being recorded.
