Body camera footage reveals Phoenix officers beat, tase deaf black man with cerebral palsy

The officers, who are under investigation, “remain on duty,” the Phoenix Police Department told PEOPLE.

• Phoenix police officers responded to a report that Tyron McAlpin, a black man, had stolen a white man’s phone. This theft charge was later dropped

• Seconds after arriving, an officer grabbed McAlpin, who is deaf and has cerebral palsy, and the men scuffled. Officers later tased and struck McAlpin several times in the head.

• The Justice Department announced in June that the Phoenix Police Department and the city of Phoenix routinely engaged “in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the U.S. Constitution and federal law.”

A deaf black man with cerebral palsy is facing charges after an incident in which two white police officers repeatedly punched and tased him in a Circle K parking lot in Phoenix, Arizona.

The Aug. 19 incident followed a Justice Department report in which federal authorities found that the Phoenix Police Department routinely uses excessive force and discriminates against people of color.

Tyron McAlpin was walking and looking at his phone when two officers – responding to a report of a stolen cell phone – pulled up in a vehicle next to him.

“Hey buddy, stop where you are,” says an officer — who later identifies himself as Benjamin Harris in body camera footage obtained by PEOPLE — while still in the vehicle.

McAlpin then tries to get around the vehicle. About two seconds after he exited, Harris grabbed McAlpin by the shoulders, according to body camera footage.

In response, McAlpin raises his arms and a fight ensues. Twelve seconds into the sequence, Harris hits McAlpin, who ducks.

“Tase him!” Tase him! Tase him! Harris said before the officers pushed him to the ground, continuing: “Put your hands behind your back!” as McAlpin struggles to keep his face from hitting the concrete.

An officer — identified in incident reports obtained by PEOPLE as Kyle Sue — holds McAlpin’s neck and punches him in the head several times.

McAlpin holds his head as Harris orders him to put his hands behind his back.

As Sue beats him, Harris tells him to “move” and Tasers McAlpin – who is on the ground – four times. Harris reaches into his pockets – while McAlpin groans – and pulls out his headphones, keys and loose change.

“Hey, officers, are you okay?” ” asks a passerby, prompting Harris to respond, “Everything’s okay now, thank you,” while rummaging through McAlpin’s pockets.

The police try to stand him up, but McAlpin – still moaning – can’t do it.

At one point in the footage, Harris says he thinks he broke his hand. Sue claims McAlpin bit her.

“He’s not combative, he just doesn’t want to be handcuffed,” Harris said on the radio.

A white woman, identifying herself as McAlpin’s wife, shouts from a distance to tell officers she was communicating with him by phone before they arrived. She further points out that McAlpin is deaf and has cerebral palsy.

Harris tells her that McAlpin is “under arrest for assaulting a police officer,” prompting the woman to ask “What happened?”

“He assaulted someone at Circle K,” Harris said, prompting the woman to retort, “He didn’t assault anyone.”

“Well, he did it now,” Harris and another officer respond.

McAlpin is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of resisting arrest, the Maricopa County Prosecutor’s Office confirms to PEOPLE.

McAlpin’s first pretrial conference is scheduled for November 13.

In a statement to PEOPLE, the Phoenix Police Department said the officers — who are under internal investigation — “remain in their assigned duties.”

Acting Police Chief Michael G. Sullivan called the video “disturbing,” adding in a statement that it “raises many questions.”

County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a statement this week: “Due to the attention this case has received, I will personally review the entire case file, as well as the entire video. I may or may not come to a different conclusion, but I think this matter deserves further examination.

According to the probable cause affidavit obtained by PEOPLE, officers responded to the Circle K location after a white man alleged — in an incident not witnessed by employees — that McAlpin punched him in the face and took his phone.

The prosecutor’s office told CNN on Tuesday (October 15) that it had dropped that earlier theft charge.

Robbins Curtin Millea & Showalter, LLC, which represents McAlpin, said his Fourth Amendment rights were violated and that the cell phone he was initially accused of stealing was his.

“It has been almost sixty days since Tyron was attacked,” his lawyers said in a statement, expressing concern that the city had promised to investigate to “try to avoid confronting” what happened.

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