A criminal justice expert says Avoyelles Parish law officers who wrestled a Marksville man off a tractor while serving an arrest warrant last year used too much force — needlessly elevating a confrontation that ended with the man’s death, our media partners at The Advocate report.
A video recording of the arrest, obtained by The Advocate, shows officers growing frustrated with Armando Frank, 44, after he refuses to step down from a tractor near a Walmart store along La. 1. A use-of-force expert who reviewed the 10-minute recording at the newspaper’s request says the law officers escalated the exchange by placing Frank in a choke hold and attempting to yank him off the tractor, the Advocate reports.
“His level of resistance starts out as passive. It doesn’t go to active and aggressive until he’s physically assaulted by these deputies," Gregory Gilbertson, director of the criminal justice program at Centralia College in Centralia, Washington, told the newspaper Thursday.
To read the story, and view the video, click here.
