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Michigan officer on leave after rough arrest of suspect

Police lights file photo
Posted at 12:52 PM, Nov 13, 2020
and last updated 2020-11-13 12:52:09-05

LANSING, Mich. — A police officer in Michigan’s capital has been placed on leave after video shows an aggressive arrest of an assault suspect who pleaded “I can’t breathe.”

The incident involved at least five Lansing officers who pinned the 25-year-old man to the ground Tuesday night and ordered him to stop resisting.

Lansing police spokesman Robert Merritt says officers were responding to a report of a street fight involving five or six people.

Merritt says a Taser was used and officers “delivered strikes.”

The man was arrested, taken to a hospital for an evaluation and then transported to a police lockup.