Webster police defend actions of officers seen in video of violent arrest
By: Webster, MA - Webster police released body camera footage Monday of a violent arrest as they respond to a third-party video circulating on social media and allegations of brutality from the teenager who was taken into custody.
The footage shows officers wrestling, punching and using a stun gun on a shirtless juvenile during an arrest on Saturday.
The Webster Police Department said, "Police work isn't always pretty."
The department defended the officers' actions, stating that the incident involved a reported group of people taking apparent weapons out of a backpack in the Park Street and Myrtle Avenue area. There was also a report that juveniles had shot out a car window and were involved in an altercation reported on Wall Street.
Japhet Villanueva said the altercation involved him and his brother.
"Given the shirtless male's refusal to de-escalate and comply, officers were forced to attempt to take him to the ground," police wrote.
During the arrest, police said Villanueva was reaching for the officers' duty belts and equipment.
"All the while, the second male was yelling, 'Do not shoot him,' which would lead officers to believe that there may be a firearm present on the scene," police wrote.
"I just find it crazy. They're trying to make it seem as if I was reaching for their handgun, or I was trying to attack them, because they said I was fighting them, when in reality I was getting my ass beat trying to protect myself," he said.
According to the department's statement, a stun gun originally did not subdue the suspect, who continued to fight with officers until they used the device in a "pain compliance technique."
"That was police brutality, in my opinion," said Japhet Villanueva, who said the officers' onslaught left him with injuries to his face, mouth and back.
While police said he was actively resisting, Villanueva said he was trying to comply.
"I got tased a second time because they thought I was resisting, but I physically could not get on the ground all the way because his leg was under me," he said.
Two BB guns were later found in a case about 50 feet away from where the shirtless juvenile and another juvenile were arrested, police said. Villanueva was released to a parent after receiving medical treatment.
Villanueva admits to shooting a BB gun at his brother's property, but said he did not deserve to lose teeth and suffer broken bones.
One of the officers suffered a broken hand and a sergeant sustained minor injuries, police said.