Summary of body cam footage in traffic stop that sparked lawsuit
HENRY COUNTY, Tenn. — Thursday evening, we informed you of a lawsuit that has been filed against the Henry County Sheriff’s Office and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
This is regarding an incident that occurred in April 2024.
- SEE ALSO: Lawsuit alleges wrongful death in West TN traffic stop (full video)
- SEE ALSO: Lawyer talks wrongful death lawsuit against police officers, Henry County
WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News Reporter Ryan Hodges breaks down the body camera footage that we obtained.
After Daniel Russell was stopped by the Henry County Sheriff’s Office and the TWRA, multiple officers were seen yelling for him to get out of the car while they had weapons drawn.
After Russell got out of the vehicle with his hands up, officers were heard telling him to lay on the ground. One of the officers told Russell that he would be tased.
Officers continued to tell Russell to lay down over the next few minutes, and they tased him multiple times. Russell asked the officers to stop while he was being told to lay down. He was then pepper sprayed.
While attempting to handcuff Russell, officers tased him a few more times. Officers were struggling with him to get his hands behind his back when Russell told them he had health problems.
One of the officers who’s body camera footage we have was asked if he was okay, and then he reported that tasers and pepper spray were used.
Russell eventually became unresponsive, and officers used two rounds of Narcan on Russell. 10 minutes after he initially got out of his car, they placed him on a stretcher and put him in an ambulance.
The lawyer representing the case, Christopher Smith, says that the autopsy shows that the cause of Russell’s death was related to the back compressions.
At the time of this report, we have still not received a comment from the Henry County Sheriff’s Office.
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