Three Arkansas cops who were filmed brutally beating suspect are named

2022-08-23

PICTURED: Arkansas cop who was suspended along with two other officers after being filmed violently beating suspect during gas station arrest

Three Arkansas cops who were suspended after brutally beating an arrest suspect have been identified – after video of the incident sparked public outcry
The now viral video shows the three law enforcement officers beating 26-year-old Randal Worcester at a gas station in Mulberry, near Little Rock, Sunday
In a statement, Crawford County Sheriff’s revealed the cops shown in the video are deputies Zack King, Deputy Levi White and Mulberry officer Thell Riddle
Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante said Sunday evening that the two of his deputies will be suspended – while Riddle was also put on leave
‘I hold all my employees accountable for their actions and will take appropriate measures in this matter,’ Damante said following the incident
The suspect was identified as South Carolina resident Randall Worcester, 27
He faces charges of terroristic threatening, resisting arrest and other assault charges, police said, after he allegedly threatened a worker at the store

Three Arkansas cops who were suspended after brutally beating an arrest suspect have been identified – after video of the incident sparked swift public outcry calling for the officers to face charges.

The now viral video shows the three law enforcement officers beating 26-year-old Randal Worcester at a gas station in Mulberry, near Little Rock, Sunday morning, in a use-of-force incident that is under investigation by state police.

The three officers shown in the video are Deputy Zack King, Deputy Levi White and Mulberry Police officer Thell Riddle, Crawford County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.

Cops said Worcester, who is from South Carolina was making threats to a worker at the convenience store, threatening to ‘cut off their face’ – with officers saying the man even went as far as to spit on the store manager before being detained.

When several officers went to confront him, he allegedly pushed a deputy to the ground and punched the back of his head, the responding officers said, leading to the arrest seen in the clip.

However, footage of the incident showed the three officers brutally beating the suspect – who had already been handcuffed an detained – sparking almost immediate backlash over the officers’ handling of the incident.

In a Facebook post Monday morning, the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office revealed the three officers shown in the video are Mulberry Police officer Thell Riddle (pictured) and Crawford deputies Zack King and Levi White (not pictured)

The video of the altercation, which took place outside the Kountry Xpress on Georgia Ridge Road, shows Riddle, who worked as the chief of police at a small town in Oklahoma for several years before joining the Mulberry Police Department repeatedly striking him in the head with clenched fists even after he was restrained. The two other cops also repeatedly hit the suspect

Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante issued a statement Sunday evening, stating the two other deputies from their force will be suspended during the course of the Arkansas state police’s investigation into the incident and the sheriff’s office’s internal investigation. Riddle was also suspended as a result of the incident

Riddle in particular, a longtime lawman who worked as a police chief in small-town Oklahoma prior to starting work as an officer in Mulberry in 2017, can be seen repeatedly hitting the downed suspect with a barrage of punches during the incident.

The objections to the footage – which has been shared and viewed more than a million times in the span of a day – spurred state police to investigate the incident, as well as the three officers recorded in the contentious clip.

On Monday, the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office seemed to succumb to the pressure put on the department by the public, and revealed the names of the three cops – who at one point in the video are shown shouting and pointing at the person filming the incident.

That revelation came just hours after the office revealed that the three men, two of who are employed by the office and one by Mulberry’s police department, had all been suspended pending a police investigation.

‘The Deputies involved in the video yesterday are Deputy Zack King, Deputy Levi White and Mulberry Officer Thell Riddle,’ the sheriff’s office wrote in a post to Facebook Monday morning.

The office went on to caution, in the same statement, that a local man had a name similar to Deputy King’s after a member of the public reportedly shared the citizen’s address on the department’s page, but was not the same person.

‘There was a comment shared about Zack King’s address yesterday,’ the notice warned. ‘This is a civilian and is NOT the Crawford County Deputy or associated with the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office.’

Cops said Randall Worcester (pictured in a mugshot), 27, was making threats to a convenience store worker in Mulberry, near Little Rock, on Sunday morning

Worcester was photographed leaving Crawford County jail Monday after posting $15,000 bail. Police at the sheriff’s office say the South Carolina resident had threatened and spit on a staffer at the gas station, spurring the officers to use excessive force

The post went on to urge the slew of citizens whom had expressed outrage over the incident to refer their questions to the Arkansas State Police and Federal Bureau of Investigations – the agencies currently overseeing the investigation.

Whether the officers were justified in using force and face charges, will be determined by that investigation.

‘We are cooperating with all aspects of their investigation and will make a statement to the public at a later time,’ the sheriff’s office wrote.

Worcester, meanwhile, was booked on charges of Battery in the second degree, assault in the first degree, resisting arrest, possessing an instrument of crime, criminal trespass, criminal mischief in the second degree, terroristic threatening in the first degree, and assault in the second degree.

He was photographed leaving Crawford County jail Monday after posting $15,000 bail, with a burst blood vessel in his left eye, likely the result of the officers’ attack.

Photos show the suspect – who is five foot 11 inches tall and weighs 145 pounds, according to jail records – being crowded by reporters asking about the incident, while accompanied by his attorney.

The video of the altercation, which took place outside the Kountry Xpress on Georgia Ridge Road, shows Riddle, who worked as the chief of police in Gans, Oklahoma – a town of just 300 – for several years before joining the Mulberry PD in 2017, repeatedly striking him in the head with clenched fists even after he was restrained.

At one point, Riddle lifts and then slams the man’s head into the concrete ground. Another one of the lawmen is shown kneeing the man in the back and leg.

The officers are also shown aggressively pinning the man’s head down, and holding his hood over his face while striking him. At one point in the video, the officers are shown shouting and pointing at the person filming the incident.

The video was posted to Snapchat by Naomi Johnson, whose sister witnessed and recorded the incident on her phone. A stunned Jackson asked who she needed to send it to in order to report the officers for misconduct.

During the taping, the three officers seem to notice Johnson, and shout something inaudible while pointing at her. The footage then cuts out, as the officers continue to aggressively hold down Worcester.

Photos show the suspect Randall Worcester- who is 5 foot 11 inches tall and weighs 145 pounds, according to jail records – with a burst blood vessel in his left eye, likely a result of the incident

When several officers went to confront Randall Worcester (pictured left), he allegedly pushed a deputy to the ground and punched the back of his head, leading to the arrest seen in the clip. In a statement released Sunday evening, Mulberry Police Chief Shannon Gregory (pictured right) said Sunday that his officer, Riddle, is on leave pending a state and federal investigation

Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante issued a statement Sunday evening, saying two county deputies were suspended in the state police’s investigation into the incident and the sheriff’s office’s internal review. A Mulberry police officer also was suspended.

‘I hold all my employees accountable for their actions and will take appropriate measures in this matter,’ Damante said.

In a statement released Sunday evening, Mulberry Police Chief Shannon Gregory said the officer involved in the incident is on leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

‘The city of Mulberry and the Mulberry police department takes these investigations very seriously,’ Gregory said.

Police said the incident happened on Sunday at around 10:40 a.m. local time at the Kountry Xpress at 1107 Georgia Ridge Dr. in Mulberry – which is found around 135 miles northwest of Little Rock.

According to the Arkansas Times, Naomi Johnson’s sister said she arrived at a gas station when she saw a shoeless man sitting on the curb and talking to police officers. She then saw the man get up and try and run away, but was tackled.

Johnson’s sister reported that she thought the man seemed in mental distress, the Arkansas Times reported.

Johnson’s sister was in her car with a friend at the time, the newspaper reported. The pair can be heard in the footage shouting at the officer to stop punching the man.

The audio is difficult to pick up from the footage, but it sounds like one officer tells the people in the car to ‘back the f**k up’.

Worcester – who lives in Goose Creek, South Carolina, but is from Law Vegas – was arrested and taken to a local hospital. The extent of his injuries was not immediately clear.

Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler gave information on the incident, saying: ‘Special Agents of the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division are investigating the incident depicted in the video which occurred about 10:30 AM today outside a convenience store in the Dyer community (Crawford County).

‘The incident involves two Crawford County sheriff’s deputies and a Mulberry police officer. At this time I do not have any identifying information about the victim.’

No further information was immediately available.

Mulberry Mayor Gary Baxter said he was ‘shocked and sickened’ and promised a full investigation.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson also promised that the state would get to the bottom of the matter.

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