Lea County Sheriff's deputy now faces a charge for his conduct in a traffic stop

2 likes

Duration: 1:02 Views: 390 Submitted: 1 hour ago Submitted by:

LEA COUNTY, N.M. — Newly-obtained body camera video provides the first public look at the roadside encounter that led to a misdemeanor battery charge against Lea County Sheriff’s Deputy Dustyn Bennett.

The charge stems from a Jan. 16 encounter on New Mexico Highway 132 during an investigation into reports of a stolen motorcycle.

Within seconds, Bennett reaches for Arenivas and attempts to take control of him. Arenivas questions why he is being detained.

Under New Mexico’s law enforcement use-of-force policy, officers may use objectively reasonable force to overcome resistance and maintain control of a subject. The policy also instructs officers to consider factors including the severity of the crime, whether a suspect poses an immediate threat and whether the person is resisting or attempting to flee.

Later in the recording, Bennett describes the encounter to other officers at the scene.

“I said, ‘I’m going to detain you. I’ll tell you what’s going on in a second,’ and he tenses up,” Bennett said. He later tells officers Arenivas “kind of took a fighting stance, so I tased him.”

Court records show charges against Arenivas, including possession of a stolen vehicle and resisting arrest, were later dismissed.

Bennett now faces a misdemeanor battery charge connected to the encounter. He is expected to stand trial before a jury on Jan. 12 at 8:30 a.m.

Categories: Bad Cop

Tags: new mexico police

2 +1 Lemmiwinks 41 minutes ago

if u pull ur hand away from a cop detaining you then u are seriously handicapped thinking it’ll work