Dashcam video captures the moment suspects swarm, beat, strangle police officer during traffic stop



Harrowing dashcam footage showed the moment a group of suspects attacked a police officer following a traffic stop, according to a Thursday report from Fox News.

What's a brief history?

In June, authorities arrested three suspects who reportedly beat and strangled an Aurora, Illinois, police officer during a Monday night traffic stop.

The incident unfolded when an unnamed officer stopped a vehicle after its operator reportedly blew through a stop sign in a residential area.

Authorities identified the driver as 28-year-old Paul Sherrod and Sherrod's passengers as 24-year-old Jennifer Taylor and 26-year-old Sheba Taylor.

Sherrod reportedly began screaming obscenities at the officer during the traffic stop, prompting the officer to demand that Sherrod exit the vehicle. Instead, one of the female passengers reportedly climbed from the vehicle and began confronting the officer.

Sherrod eventually complied with the officer's orders, but reportedly fled on foot as soon as he got out of the vehicle. The officer began pursuing Sherrod on foot, prompting the two female passengers to follow close behind.

One of the women reportedly began brutalizing the officer when she caught up with him, and when it was clear that she had the advantage over the officer, Sherrod and the second female suspect began kicking and hitting the officer with closed fists on his body and head.

One of the female suspects also reportedly placed the officer in a chokehold, cutting off his breath, while the second female allegedly pinned him to the ground.

What's in the video?

Dashcam footage shows the moment backup arrives on the scene and intervenes in the melee.

According to the outlet, the footage did not show the portion of the attack where the officer was allegedly beaten, but did show the portion in which he was dangerously pinned to the ground. The video also purportedly shows at least one of the suspects appearing to sit on the officer's head while police added that a second suspect reportedly applied significant force to the officer's windpipe.

Responding officers were deftly able to free their fellow officer from the suspects' grip and were able to quickly arrest the trio.

Authorities told local media that the female passenger's attack on the officer temporarily left him without the "ability to breathe."

The suspects were booked into the Kane County Jail and face a plethora of charges related to the attack and the preceding incident.

"Following an investigation into the incident, the three suspects ... were indicted by a grand jury last week and charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery, and aggravated assault," Fox News reported.

Kane County State's Attorney Jamie Mosser added, "Because of the strangulation and because of the research that we know about how quickly it is for somebody to lose their life as a result of somebody preventing them from being able to breathe, we believe that the property charge was attempted first-degree murder."

The officer, who remains unnamed at the time of this reporting, is expected to recover from the attack.

All suspects are out on bond and are scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 24.

The Aurora Police Department shared the dashcam footage in a Facebook video, which the department captioned, "Three people are now facing attempted murder charges after a Grand Jury indicted them on numerous felonies after they attacked, beat, and strangled and Aurora Police officer during the course of a traffic stop on the evening of June 21st."

Just after 10:30 p.m. on Monday, an Aurora Police officer performed a traffic stop on a car that rolled through a stop sign. As the officer approached the vehicle, the driver began yelling obscenities out the window. The officer also observed two other passengers in the vehicle. Moments later, the rear passenger exited the vehicle. The officer ordered her back into the car several times before informing her that she was under arrest for obstructing. However, before the rear passenger was in custody, the driver also exited the vehicle, continued yelling obscenities, and started approaching the officer at the rear of the car. The driver told the officer that he would fight him if he touched the rear female passenger.The officer informed the driver that he was also under arrest for obstructing. At that moment, the driver took off running, and the officer ran after him. The two passengers also followed the officer yelling obscenities. The female rear passenger approached the officer as they ran, the officer turned around and grabbed her arm to take her into custody, but she slipped out of his grip.The two female passengers then began striking the officer with closed fists and kicking his body and head. The officer heard a male's voice and then was struck repeatedly in the head from several angles. The rear female passenger placed her forearm around the officer's neck and applied significant force to his windpipe, causing him to lose the ability to breathe. A short time later, additional officers arrived and placed the subjects into custody.Detectives from Aurora Police's Investigations Division responded to the scene, interviewed the subjects, and gathered numerous pieces of evidence. Detectives presented the case to the Kane County State's Attorney's Office and they initially authorized numerous felony charges against the three suspects.The investigation continued and on Friday, July 16th, the Kane County State's Attorney presented the facts and evidence of the case to a Grand Jury, and they indicted the three suspects on upgraded charges of attempted murder.Sheba Taylor, 26, was indicted on the following felony charges:One count of Attempted First Degree Murder (Class X)Two counts of Aggravated Battery (Class 2 Felony)Four counts of Aggravated Battery (Class 3 Felony)One count of Aggravated Assault (Class 4 Felony)One count Resisting a Peace Officer (Class 4 Felony)Jennifer Taylor, 24, was indicted on the following felony charges:One count of Attempted First Degree Murder (Class X)Two counts of Aggravated Battery (Class 2 Felony)Four counts of Aggravated Battery (Class 3 Felony)One count of Aggravated Assault (Class 4 Felony)One count Resisting a Peace Officer (Class 4 Felony)Paul Sherrod Taylor, 28, was indicted on the following felony charges:One count of Attempted First Degree Murder (Class X)Two counts of Aggravated Battery (Class 2 Felony)Four counts of Aggravated Battery (Class 3 Felony)One count of Threatening a Public Official (Class 3 Felony)One count of Aggravated Assault (Class 4 Felony)One count Resisting a Peace Officer (Class 4 Felony)The charges against the defendants are not proof of guilt. They are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial in which it is the State's burden to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Police officer responds alone to shots-fired call; mob swarms, attacks him — and then cackles that it was all caught on camera



An unruly mob attacked a Jacksonville, Florida, police officer who responded alone to a call of shots fired, according to WJAX-TV.

The mob swarmed the officer and hit him with their fists and kicked them with their feet as some cackled that the attack had been caught on camera.

What are the details?

The Jacksonville police officer responded to a call of shots fired in the Brooklyn area Thursday night.

The lone officer reportedly rushed to the scene because it was "a potential active shooter situation." He approached a crowd where he thought the shots were coming from.

In a statement on the incident, Steve Zona, president of the Fraternal Order of Police in Jacksonville, said, "Our police officer was actually responding to a report of gunshots, shots being fired. So equate that to a potential active shooter situation."

"When he got down there to try and get people to disperse, one of the people from the crowd actually attacked our police officer," he added.

Social media video captured the moment that a crowd surrounded the lone officer and pushed him to the ground, shouting expletives and attacking him.

In the video, the unnamed officer — who has a rifle strapped to his back — is able to climb to his feet as the person recording the now-viral video runs off laughing about the incident and how he caught the heartless attack on video.

The video does not show what took place immediately following the attack on the officer.

Zona also expressed his disappointment that no one stepped in to help the lone officer during the attack, but according to a new report from WTLV-TV, "a takedown and arrest of the suspected attacker followed."

"We have tremendous support here in the community and I don't think what happened to our police officer is a direct reflection of our community here in Jacksonville, I say it's a direct reflection of the people there," he added.

Content warning: Rough language:

Police officer attacked by mob after responding to shots fired call. This is where we’re at now? https://t.co/8ZbxGIQc8u

— Sarah Taylor (@thesarahdtaylor) 1623250772.0

What else do we know about this?

The station on Tuesday reported that authorities arrested 23-year-old Jermisha Ramsey in connection with the attack and charged her with assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, and street fighting.

WTLV that the officer suffered "multiple abrasions" in the attack.

Citing the arrest record, WTLV reported:

According to the arrest report, police initially responded to a call in the area of 600 block of Oak Street regarding multiple vehicles being burglarized around 2:10 a.m.Upon arrival, one of the complainants advised the JSO officer she'd heard gunshots down the road. JSO says the officer saw a gathering of people near Edison Avenue and an active fight.The officer requested backup and approached the fight with his police rifle slung on his back. The report says he saw about eight people fighting and arguing in the middle of the road and gave them loud, verbal commands to stop. The officer had to physically separate two individuals, one of whom was later identified as Ramsey.The officer attempted to detain Ramsey for failing to obey his verbal commands but was unsuccessful. The officer attack that was recorded and posted to social media is redacted entirely from the police report. However, the report goes on to say the officer picked up his glasses and gave chase, eventually catching Ramsey, throwing her on the ground and handcuffing her.

(H/T: The Police Tribune)

VIDEO: All hell breaks loose as Portland demonstrator attacks police officer



Video captured the moment a Portland demonstrator hauled off and punched a police officer in the head — and captured the ensuing chaos following the attack as well.

Authorities arrested two people after police declared an unlawful assembly in downtown Portland, Oregon, on Tuesday night.

What are the details?

According to a report from KOIN-TV, the incident took place just hours after former police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all charges in George Floyd's murder.

Demonstrators, the station reported, gathered in Portland's downtown to "celebrate George's life" and go "all out for Daunte Wright."

Wright was killed in an officer-involved shooting earlier in April when a female police officer reportedly mistook her service weapon for her Taser during a traffic stop.

In the video, which was widely shared on social media, a demonstrator can be seen winding back and throwing a punch, striking a Portland police officer in the head and knocking him to the ground.

"Multiple videos from social media and local news outlets captured the officer moving [a demonstrator] aside, they had a few words — then [the officer] moved on," KOIN reports. "However, longer videos on social media show another person come and punch the sergeant in the head and the sergeant falls to the ground on his back."

"More officers intervened and threw punches — what police referred to as 'focused blows' — while getting the man off of the sergeant," the station added. "Police say they also used pepper spray."

Authorities arrested 36-year-old Randy Gray in connection with the attack and charged him with assaulting a public safety officer, assault, harassment, disorderly conduct, and criminal mischief. He was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center.

The Portland Police shared video of the altercation on Twitter and captioned it, "An Officer is surrounded and punched in the face and ends up on the ground on his back with the suspect on top. This was a very dangerous situation. Subject was arrested."

The video originated from the Oregonian's Twitter feed, where it initially was captioned, "VIDEO: An officer and protester engage in a heated confrontation. Another officer arrives on a bicycle, pushing another nearby protester. That protester then punched the first officer, and police piled on the person who threw the punch in a flurry of physical confrontation."

(Content warning: Rough language):

An Officer is surrounded and punched in the face and ends up on the ground on his back with the suspect on top. Thi… https://t.co/EBgodo9kLi
— Portland Police (@Portland Police)1618984407.0

What else?

Police eventually determined the gathering was an unlawful assembly after some demonstrators began starting fires, breaking windows of local businesses, and tagging the Justice Center with graffiti.

In a statement, acting Portland Police Bureau Chief Chris Davis said, "Those who think it is acceptable to put others' lives and livelihoods at risk through dangerous acts of violence and destruction are not furthering the cause for system change, but setting our entire community back by tearing it apart. This is not advancing any racial justice."