Henry County

Officer involved in arrest of former NFL player placed on administrative duty

HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — A former NFL player is at the center of a viral video involving the Henry County Police Department.

The video posted on social media shows a man being arrested and slammed to the ground in a shopping center parking lot.

The man in the video, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive back Desmond Marrow, took to Facebook on Thursday night to share his side of the story. (Watch the video below. WARNING: Some language in the video may be considered graphic.)

He said his teeth were knocked out and he was choked until he was unconscious.

Marrow went on to say, “I was fully cooperating with the officer with zero resistance. I thought I was going to die.”

Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes has learned the video was recorded in early December. Police and witnesses tell her there's more to the story.

DETAILS OF INCIDENT

According to the police report, this all started with a road-rage incident involving Marrow and two other men.

Marrow's attorney said the two men called his client a racial slur and threw a cup of hot coffee at his truck.

"I kept driving to the light, and there comes a cup of coffee. Boom, it hit my windshield. It hit me," Marrow said.

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The police report said Marrow admitted to police that he chased the two men into the parking lot.

A witness, Robbie Stinson, said he tried to defuse the situation by talking to Marrow.

Minutes later, police arrived.

Officers said witnesses told them that Marrow was the aggressor and threatened to shoot the men he was arguing with.

Stinson said the video shows police struggling to arrest Marrow.

"He wasn't being calm. In his statement, he said he was calm. That's complete bull. He was not calm. They had to tussle with him to get him in the cuffs," Stinson said. "So you have a minute and a half of video to read into a 30-minute incident. You can't do that."

HENRY COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT

On Friday afternoon, the Henry County Police Department told Channel 2 Action News that it is reviewing the events in the videos.

Police said an initial use-of-force review by Internal Affairs was conducted at the time of the arrest.

Earlier this month, Henry County Police Chief Mark Amerman ordered another Internal Affairs investigation.

As of Friday, police said, the officer involved is on administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation.

Police said the criminal case against Marrow is pending in the Henry County District Attorney’s Office.

"The Henry County Police Department takes any charges of excessive use of force very seriously and wants to assure the public that this event will be fully investigated," the department told Channel 2 Action News.

MORE BACKGROUND

Marrow is charged with making terroristic threats, aggressive driving, reckless driving and obstruction of an officer.

The ACLU of Georgia sent Channel 2 Action News the following statement on Friday:

“The recently released December 2017 video of the violent arrest of Desmond Morrow by Henry County law enforcement is extremely disturbing," stated Andrea Young, Executive Director of the ACLU of Georgia. "The behavior of the officers reinforces the perception that it is dangerous for African-Americans to interact with law enforcement. The ACLU of Georgia is calling on Henry County officials to convene a public meeting to hear and address immediately the community’s concerns.”

Marrow was picked up as a free agent by Tampa Bay in 2012 but was released without playing a game with the team. He attended the University of Toledo.