According to the Valdosta Daily Times, officers used excessive force on Antonio Arnelo Smith, who sustained a broken arm from the arrest, after he was mistaken for a suspect in a panhandling investigation in early February.
According to police reports, officers made contact with Smith nearly 100 yards away from the store, per the Daily Times.
The report states the sergeant walked up to Smith and reached for his wrist before wrapping his arms around the man, telling him to put his hands behind his back multiple times.
The City of Valdosta and the Valdosta Police Department takes any report of any injury to a citizen seriously.
The video the city shared on Facebook is five minutes and 42 seconds long, but Smith’s legal team sent a video to the Daily Times that is 11 minutes and 31 seconds long.
