WESTFIELD, MA – An incident captured on camera in Westfield has the community buzzing with questions for police.
Alex Perez was on his way to a friends house when he came across an incident involving officers. He quickly recorded it on Snapchat then posted it to Facebook.
“I hear one guy come out and say, ‘hey down on the ground or we will taze you’, and at that point I got out my phone. I did see the guy at a quick glance look like he had something in his hands too, so I understand why they would I just thought it was eventually too much,” Perez added.
Perez wanted to post it to social media and see if anyone could provide some context.
“I didn’t know obviously everything that was going on in that situation and I would like to know,” he continued.
The man on the ground did have something in his hand which turned out to be the loaded magazine off of an officers belt, according to Westfield police.
Those officers at the time were carrying out a section 12. This is when police bring someone into custody that a doctor deems a danger to themselves and others immediately take that person to a hospital for treatment.
The man in the video police said was asked many times to comply with their requests so he could be brought to the hospital, but he didn’t and police had to use force.
In a statement to Western Mass News, Westfield Police Captain Michael McCabe wrote:
Because of his clothing and state of mind, both electronic and chemical applications were ineffective. At some point during the incident, the man rolled on to his back and swung at the primary and secondary officer which is where I believe the video picks up. The reporting officers version of events matches the video.
Westfield police said every time an officer has to use force the chief reviews the report, and he will do that in this instance as well.