Bodycam video shows Phoenix police knocking and groping a deaf man to the ground

Newly released bodycam footage shows two Phoenix police officers shouting commands at a black man as he lies face down on the ground — with one officer punching him repeatedly and another officer tasing him.

Tyron McAlpin, 34, is deaf and is no longer charged with an alleged crime that prompted officers to physically confront him in a parking lot the morning of Aug. 19. The Maricopa County Prosecutor’s Office decided to drop the first theft charge against him. told CNN on Tuesday.

But McAlpin now faces two charges of aggravated assault and one charge of resisting arrest after Phoenix police said he took a “fighting stance” when first approached by an officer.

According to an incident report, police tried to question McAlpin after a man said he was punched by someone who tried to steal his bicycle. The man directed police to McAlpin and officers followed him to a nearby parking lot.

As McAlpin walks through the parking lot, an officer calls out to the deaf man from his police car, according to the bodycam footage.

“Hey buddy, stop where you are,” the officer says. “Sit down.”

The officer then gets out of his car and within seconds a scuffle ensues.

“His hands raised to deliver targeted punches to my face/head, and multiple closed fist swings at my head,” the first officer who confronted McAlpin wrote in an incident report.

Surveillance footage from a nearby business shows the police car driving toward McAlpin. Within seconds, an officer gets out of the car and rushes towards McAlpin.

Body camera footage shows the officer was the first to extend his arms toward McAlpin, while McAlpin’s arms remained at his sides.

Almost immediately, McAlpin raises his arms and his legs appear to be in a fighting or defensive stance.

Less than a second afterward, both the officer and McAlpin are involved in an altercation.

A second officer comes to help push McAlpin face down to the ground. But McAlpin’s right hand is still in front of his body.

“Put your hands behind your back!” the first officer shouts at the deaf man. “Put your hand behind your back, now!”

When McAlpin doesn’t comply and lifts his head slightly, the other officer slams his head down.

One officer tased McAlpin several times before he was handcuffed and taken away. At one point, the officers describe their injuries as a result of the confrontation:

“I think I broke my hand,” the first officer said. “Did he bite you?”

“Yes,” the second officer replied.

Shortly afterwards, a woman arrived on the scene and identified herself as McAlpin’s wife, according to the bodycam footage.

‘That’s my husband. He was on the phone with me,” said the woman, later identified in a police incident report as Jessica Ulaszek.

“Well, he’s under arrest for assault on a police officer,” an officer tells her. “He attacked someone at the Circle K. If you can wait there, I’ll tell you about it in a moment.”

Ulaszek tells officers that her husband is disabled, and that the two communicated on the phone using sign language.

‘He is deaf and has cerebral palsy. And I’ve been on the phone with him since Circle K,” Ulaszek said.

‘I was on the phone with him the whole time. He didn’t attack anyone.”

The two officers have not been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation and are actively working, Phoenix police told CNN on Tuesday.

“This incident is the subject of an ongoing internal investigation and was assigned to the Professional Standards Bureau on August 30, 2024,” Phoenix police said in a statement.

Critics of the officers’ conduct have prompted calls to drop charges against McAlpin.

The public outcry has prompted Maricopa County’s top prosecutor to personally review the case.

“Some in our community have raised concerns about the charges against Tyron McAlpin. I have great confidence in the attorneys working at MCAO and those who have reviewed this case to date,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a statement released to CNN on Tuesday.

“I also respect those who have expressed their concerns. Due to the attention on this case, I will personally review the entire file, as well as the entirety of the video. I may or may not reach a different conclusion, but I think this matter deserves additional investigation.”

Earlier this year, a Justice Department report said Phoenix police violated the constitutional rights of people experiencing homelessness and disproportionately enforced laws against minorities, including those with behavioral health conditions, CNN reported.

When asked why McAlpin did not follow the officer’s orders: “The answer is simple:
He is deaf,” McAlpin’s attorney Jesse Showalter told CNN affiliate KNXV.

“He didn’t understand what they were doing,” Showalter said. “All I see in that video is Tyron just trying to avoid being harmed by these officers, and that just causes them to increase the escalation and violence that they use.”

During a preliminary hearing on McAlpin’s case, both officers involved in the scuffle said they did not remember much training on how to deal with hearing-impaired individuals, KNXV reported.

“That was about seven years ago. I don’t really remember much about it,” the first officer testified.

“Have you had any training in dealing with people with disabilities?” McAlpin’s attorney asked the second officer.

“Maybe briefly, but nothing that I remember,” he replied.

CNN has contacted the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association for comment. In a statement to KNXV, the police union urged the public not to jump to conclusions.

“We stand with our officers and would caution the community to reserve judgment on the incident until all evidence has been reviewed, rather than a snippet of bodycam footage,” the union said.

McAlpin’s first pre-trial conference is scheduled for Nov. 13 and his trial is scheduled for late February.

CNN’s Josh Campbell contributed to this report.

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