Video shows Sugar Creek police break window, pull driver out of SUV during arrest
Video recorded by police and witnesses shows Sugar Creek police officers break the driver side window of an SUV and hit a man with a baton while arresting him Monday.
The video, which shows officers quickly pull the man out of the vehicle after a short pursuit, captures the end of an incident that began when the man went to City Hall to request information from a police officer’s personnel file, according to police.
Police said the man had previously been armed in encounters with officers and had identified himself as a “sovereign citizen,” meaning he would not recognize the authority of local, state and federal governments.
Sugar Creek Police Chief Chris Soule on Tuesday defended his officers’ actions, saying it was a split-second decision and “they did what they were trained to do.”
About 9:45 a.m. Monday officers responded to a reported disturbance at Sugar Creek City Hall at 103 South Sterling Avenue, according to a news release posted to the Sugar Creek Police Department’s Facebook page.
Police said Aaron Fletcher created a disturbance while requesting information from the an officer’s personnel file. Fletcher was told how to properly request the information, the department said in its statement.
Officers knew Fletcher from previous encounters in which he had proclaimed himself a sovereign citizen who believes government has no authority over him and that police cannot enforce laws on him, according to the Police Department’s news release.
Fletcher told officers that he had other business at City Hall and the officers left. However, they were advised that Fletcher had six warrants out for his arrest and that his driver’s license had been revoked.
The warrants were for traffic violations in Kansas City, Soule said.
A detective saw Fletcher get into an SUV and leave City Hall. The officers attempted to stop him, but he allegedly refused to stop, according to the statement.
Officers pursued the SUV at low speeds about 5 1/2 blocks, Soule said. During that time, they saw Fletcher on a cellphone.
The video released Tuesday picks up when Fletcher stopped at a friend’s house, where two people were standing outside with cellphones recording video. One of those videos was posted on Facebook Monday evening.
Soule said officers conducted a felony car stop, approaching the SUV with their handguns drawn and repeatedly telling Fletcher to step out of the car.
“I’m not armed. I’m not armed,” Fletcher said with hands raised. “I’m not opening the door. I’m not armed.”
The officers holstered their guns and one officer pulled out a baton. The officer hit the driver side window of the SUV several times, breaking it.
“I’m being kidnapped,” Fletcher repeatedly yelled. “I’ve been kidnapped. Are you recording this?”
As an officer told Fletcher to get out, they pulled him out of the SUV.
Fletcher allegedly continued to resist, and an officer struck him twice in his right thigh with a baton.
In the body camera video, an officer tells Fletcher to stop resisting.
“I’m not resisting,” Fletcher yelled as the officers forced him to the ground, face down.
Fletcher continued: “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”
The officers struggled with Fletcher as they placed him in handcuffs and escorted him to a police car.
“I am not resisting. You just kidnapped me. Hey, record this,” Fletcher said. “It’s being recorded.”
An officer responded: “We are recording this too.”
Fletcher eventually was taken to the police station for booking. As of Tuesday afternoon, Fletcher refused to be booked, photographed and fingerprinted, saying police had no jurisdiction over him, according to the Police Department’s statement. Fletcher allegedly told police he answered only to God.
Fletcher has been charged with driving while on a revoked license, eluding police, resisting arrest and failure to obey a lawful order, according to police.
Officers conducted the felony car stop because they didn’t know what was going on with Fletcher or whether he might try to flee, Soule said. In previous encounters, Fletcher had been armed, he said.
Once Fletcher said he was not armed, officers holstered their handguns, Soule said.
“They use the necessary force to effect the arrest,” Soule said.
In the video shot by witnesses, Soule, who was in plain clothes because he was on his way to work, can be seen asking the people filming to step inside the house for their own safety.
On Tuesday Soule said he never asked them to stop recording and did not touch their camera.
“I just asked them to please step inside,” he said.
