Leaked bodycam video shows Seat Pleasant police misconduct
PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - Seat Pleasant, a small city in Prince George's County, is investigating alleged police misconduct after nearly a dozen police body camera videos appeared on an anonymous YouTube account in recent days. Sources shared the account with FOX 5.
At least one of the videos is connected to an ongoing civil lawsuit in which a D.C. national guardsman alleges officers pulled him to the ground, wrongfully arrested and beat him in 2017 during a traffic stop for alleged speeding.
Lawyers for the man, Tayvon Eubanks, say all charges against their client were dismissed.
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Other videos appear to show officers using Facetime to mock a man who is passed out on the ground with his private parts exposed and in several instances show officers pointing weapons at subjects who they stopped and using expletives in threats to kill them.
An additional video appears to show an officer knock a cell phone out of a man's hand and damage it.
A source with knowledge of past internal investigations tells FOX 5 some of the videos are several years old and were already investigated, in one instance leading the agency to let go of at least one officer.
Yet Monday night, both Mayor Eugene W. Grant and Jeannelle Wallace, interim city manager, told FOX 5 further investigations were planned.
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In a statement to FOX 5, Wallace said, "...actions and language of the officers involved is unacceptable, reprehensible, and will be thoroughly investigated. It will be my recommendation that appropriate disciplinary measures take place after my office has had an opportunity to review and evaluate all of the information in consultation with the city’s legal representation."
"There has to be improvements. I am encouraging the city council act like leaders and to make certain that this is fully investigated and if individuals need to be separated from our employment then we need to act swiftly and quickly to ensure that that type of behavior is not done in Seat Pleasant Maryland," Grant said.