By David K. Li and Suzanne Ciechalski -
NBC News
Ohio police forcibly removed a paraplegic man from his vehicle and threw him to the ground, even though he reiterated that his legs were disabled, according to one officer's body camera video released Friday.
The Dayton Police Department shared with NBC News, sister network of Noticias Telemundo, the video showing two officers ordering Clifford Owensby to get out of the Audi he was driving during a traffic check last week.
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The video was edited, and it is unclear what happened before or after it.
Owensby is heard telling the agents that he is a paraplegic.
One of the officers said that he would help him out of the car, but the driver refused and asked why they had stopped him.
"I can't get out of the vehicle, sir," Owensby pointed out.
The agent told Owensby that he had to get out of the vehicle so a dog could track drugs, but the motorist objected, according to video footage.
At which point Clifford Owensby is forcibly pulled from his vehicle by Dayton, Ohio police. Dayton Police Department
“No, he won't, he won't touch me.
You are definitely not going to touch me ”, he is heard saying in the video.
"There will be a lawsuit if you lay your hands on me for no reason, bro," he says.
Next, Owensby appears to make a phone call and ask someone to come up to him and film his interactions with the agents.
Owensby asks the officers to call his supervisor before they unbuckle his belt and forcibly remove him.
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The victim repeatedly yells: "Someone help me, someone help me!"
As officers press him to the pavement, one knees on his back as Owensby continues to plead for help.
At one point, he yells, "Can you really call the police, please?" While a policeman threatened him.
The agents involved have not been identified.
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The President of the Fraternal Order of Dayton Police, Jerome A. Dix, said in a statement late Friday that officers asked for compliance and said they offered to “help” Owensby when told he was a paraplegic and that however, the motorist "verbally refused," which intensified the officers' response.
“The police officers followed the law, their training, and the department's policies and procedures.
Sometimes arresting non-compliant individuals is not pretty, but it is a necessary part of law enforcement to maintain public safety, which is one of the fundamental ideologies of our society, ”he adds.
Owensby told the Dayton Daily News in an article published Monday that he felt he was not even respected "as a citizen," that he was rubbed out of the vehicle and that he had injured his back again.
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The incident is under investigation and the Mayor of Dayton, Nan Whaley, said through a statement on Friday: “The video of this police interaction worries me a lot.
No matter where you live or what you look like, everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect when dealing with the Dayton police. "
"Dayton remains committed to our ongoing, community-led police reform process and providing transparency in situations like this," Whaley said.