Lafayette Police Release Body Cam Footage Of K-9 Bite Incident That Put A Man In A Coma

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A special prosecutor and Indiana State Police are still investigating an incident between a black man and police officers in Lafayette that left the man in a coma for six days back in May.

Richard Bailey, Jr. is claiming the three officers pulled him over and arrested him because of his race as they were responding to a call about a domestic disturbance. Now Lafayette Police Chief Patrick Flannelly said his department is releasing 911 audio and body camera footage of the incident.

“It was reported that a man had battered multiple people and even thrown a woman across a room,” Flannelly said of the incident in a YouTube video. “Upon arrival to the area engaged in force to arrest the suspect … as he was attempting to flee the area.”

Body camera footage shows a K-9 officer being used to subdue Bailey. The dog got ahold of Bailey’s neck and dragged him to the ground. The bite caused injuries that put Bailey in the hospital and into a coma. Flannelly said the department is releasing all the footage of the incident to dispel misinformation being spread about it.

“We have prepared this video in response to public concern and media representation that do not include all the facts and circumstances,” he said. “We have chosen to release the relevant body-worn camera footage and audio files, which captured the information being shared with officers in real-time from our 911 center.”

Swaray Conteh and Fatima Johnson are the lawyers representing Bailey. They are the same lawyers who are representing the family of Dreasjon Reed, a man shot and killed by an Indianapolis police officer in June.

They are accusing the three officers of racism in their response to the incident, saying that if Bailey had been a white man on the moped that night he would not have been arrested in that way.

Madison County prosecutor Mary Hutchinson, the special prosecutor in the case, is still looking into the incident to determine if any charges need to be filed.

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