A viral video on social media shows a man being arrested. His family claims he was attacked by police. JSO says the incident is under investigation.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has launched an investigation into an incident that took place on Friday at the intersection of Plaza Gate Lane and Trafalgar Square in Jacksonville.
A video recorded by Ruby Anderson and her husband, surfaced on social media, showing a portion of the incident in which details are unknown about the context of the situation because JSO has not provided additional information due to the active investigation.
Anderson told First Coast News that her and her husband were on their way to a convenience store when they decided to turn around because an officer “passed us really fast and turned on the side street and my husband says, ‘Something must be happening really bad down through there, let’s go see.'”
In the video, officers are seen surrounding 24-year-old Le’Keian Woods on the ground, next to a black Toyota Camry, his mother, Natassia Woods, confirmed and told First Coast News.
The video begins with a JSO vehicle pulling behind the Camry and an officer exits the vehicle. While the officer who exited the vehicle walks toward the other officers, the officers on the ground can be seen holding Woods down.
Woods’ family told First Coast News that Woods, his uncle and an unidentified friend of his, were pulled over for not wearing their seatbelts as they were on their way to Woods’ grandmother’s house. The family also says there wasn’t a warrant out for Woods’ arrest but, he is on probation. The family says that about four or five officers were holding Woods to the ground with their knees on him and were punching him.
While the family says police hit him, the video doesn’t show how he suffered his injuries. However, the video does show an officer pick him up and then slam him on the ground. The officers then continue to corral Woods, his face lifts up slightly off the grass next to the curb of the street, and he is seen covered in blood.
“His face was really, really brutal,” Anderson told First Coast News. “They had beat him up and then I saw them actually slam his face against the cement, the ground.”
Anderson told First Coast News she saw at least six cop cars during the incident and that she “didn’t see any resistance” from Woods.
Woods’ family told First Coast News that Woods was taken to UF Health in Jacksonville after the incident, where he was being treated for lacerations and bruises on his face and say that he’s “coherent.” He has since been released from the hospital and is currently being held in Duval County Jail.
Woods is being held on armed drug trafficking, possession of a controlled substance, resisting an officer with violence and violation of probation, among other charges.
JSO shared the following statement with First Coast News on Saturday regarding the incident:
“Yesterday, JSO officers were involved in an incident near Toledo Road and Powers Avenue in which force was used taking a subject into custody. The agency takes all allegations of inappropriate use of force by JSO officers seriously. As such, this incident is now under administrative review to determine if the involved officers violated any JSO policy. Because the matter is currently under investigation, the agency cannot comment further about the incident until the investigation is completed.”
Natassia Woods told First Coast News that all she wants is to have justice for her son.
