Lawyer of Tyron McAlpin, deaf and disabled man hit and tased by Phoenix PD officers, speaks out
The lawyer of the deaf and disabled man who was seen being hit and tased by Phoenix Police officers on body camera footage is speaking out.
It's an incident that's making national headlines and is currently under investigation by multiple agencies overseeing police conduct.
Tyron McAlpin's lawyer, Jesse Showalter of Robbins Curtin Millea & Showalter, LLC , says he was shocked when he saw the body cam footage of this arrest. He says he believes there's a lot more evidence in the city's possession that will shed light on this situation, but, in the meantime, he's focused on getting McAlpin's charges dropped.
"These officers went wrong from the moment Officer Harris got out of the car," Showalter said. "You watch the video and what you see is his arms are reaching out, and he's assaulting Tyron from the moment the encounter begins. The number of times these two officers are striking Tyron in the head is extreme and is outrageous and is something that we thought was a thing of the past."
According to police documents, the Aug. 19 encounter began after officers responded to the area of Indian School Road and 12th Street for reports of a fight, a claim that later turned out to be unfounded.
Deaf man with cerebral palsy hit and tased by Phoenix Police officers; investigations underway
"He's deaf, and he has cerebral palsy," his wife was overhead saying to officers on body camera footage.
The officers both reported injuries, leading to felony charges against McAlpin of aggravated assault against an officer.
Calls to drop those charges are coming in from different organizations and politicians, while interim Police Chief Michael Sullivan released a statement on Oct. 16 , which says, in part, "Shortly after this incident, the Professional Standard Bureau launched an internal investigation into this incident. Their work is important to ensure all facts are known before drawing any conclusions. I ask for the public's patience during that process."
"It's very odd to ask for people to be patient when the justice system is not patient with Tyron, and he's facing these serious charges that are wholly unwarranted and should be dropped," Showalter said.
Showalter says McAplin's family is overwhelmed by the situation and that it's altered his client's trust in law enforcement.
"He has to continue to live in this community knowing that he's not safe from police on the streets," Showalter said.
As for the next steps, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell is reviewing this case, along with the other investigators from the police department itself.
Showalter says he has zero faith in Phoenix PD's ability to police itself and look inward to find out how training and other techniques may prevent this from happening in the future.
Interim Chief Sullivan said accountability is "paramount" for the department.
