Tyron McAlpin: Bodycam video shows Phoenix police beating and tasing a deaf man

CNN
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Recently released bodycam footage shows two Phoenix police officers shouting commands at a Black man as he lies facedown on the ground – with one officer punching him repeatedly and another cursing at him.

Tyron McAlpin, 34, is deaf and is no longer charged with an alleged crime that led officers to physically confront him in a parking lot the morning of Aug. 19. The Maricopa County District Attorney’s Office decided to drop an initial theft charge against him, the office told CNN on Tuesday.

But McAlpin now faces two counts of aggravated assault and one count of resisting arrest after Phoenix police said he took a “combative stance” when he was first approached by an officer.

According to an incident report, police tried to question McAlpin after a man said he was hit by someone who tried to steal his bike. The man sent police to McAlpin and officers followed him to a nearby parking lot.

As McAlpin walks through the parking lot, an officer calls out to the deaf man from his police car, bodycam footage shows.

“Hey buddy, stay where you are,” the officer says. “Take a seat.”

The officer then gets out of his car and within seconds a fight breaks out.

“His hands came up to deliver targeted blows to my face/head and he struck my head multiple times with clenched fists,” the first officer who confronted McAlpin wrote in an incident report.

Surveillance footage from a nearby store shows the police car driving toward McAlpin. Within seconds, an officer gets out of the car and lunges at McAlpin.

Body camera footage shows the officer was the first to extend his arms toward McAlpin, while McAlpin’s arms remained at his side.

Almost immediately, McAlpin raises his arms and appears to have his legs in either a fighting or defensive stance.

Less than a second later, both the officer and McAlpin get into a fight.

A second officer arrives to pin McAlpin face down on the ground. But McAlpin’s right hand is still in front of his body.

“Put your hands behind your back!” calls the first officer to the deaf man. “Hand behind your back, now!”

When McAlpin fails to comply and lifts his head slightly, the other officer slams his head down.

An officer insults McAlpin several times before he is handcuffed and taken away. At one point, the officers describe their injuries from the confrontation:

“I think I broke my hand,” says the first officer. “Did he bite you?”

“Yes,” the second officer replied.

Shortly thereafter, a woman arrives at the scene and identifies herself as McAlpin’s wife, bodycam footage shows.

“This is my husband. He was on the phone with me,” said the woman, later identified in a police incident report as Jessica Ulaszek.

“Well, he’s under arrest for assault on a police officer,” an officer tells her. “He attacked someone at the Circle K. If you can wait over there, I’ll tell you right away.”

Ulaszek tells the officers that her husband is disabled and the two spoke on the phone using sign language.

“He is deaf and has cerebral palsy. And I’ve been on the phone with him since Circle K,” Ulaszek said.

“I was on the phone with him the whole time. He didn’t attack anyone.”

Body camera footage shows firefighter medics responding and examining McAlpin as he lies on the ground. The police incident report shows he was taken to a hospital by ambulance “as a precautionary measure.”

The two officers have not been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation and are on active duty, Phoenix police told CNN on Tuesday.

“This incident is the subject of an ongoing internal investigation and was assigned to the Professional Standards Bureau on August 30, 2024,” Phoenix police said in a statement.

Critics of the officers’ behavior have led to calls for charges against McAlpin to be dropped.

Following the violent arrest of a deaf man with cerebral palsy, leading civil rights groups and disability organizations are calling for charges to be dropped.

“The continued calls to comply and obey orders went unheeded,” JJ Rico, CEO of Disability Rights Arizona, told CNN affiliate KNXV. “In order to now make allegations that he did not comply, the disability must be taken into account.”

“Disgust is probably the best way to put it,” Sarah Tyree, president of the Arizona Conference of the NAACP, told KNXV. “It’s just another stark reminder of where we are.”

The public outcry has prompted Maricopa County’s top prosecutor to personally review the case.

“Some in our community have expressed concern about the charges against Tyron McAlpin. I have great confidence in the attorneys working at MCAO and those who have reviewed this case to date,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a statement released to CNN on Tuesday.

“I also respect those who have expressed concerns. Due to the high level of attention on this case, I will personally review the entire file and video. I may or may not come to a different conclusion, but I believe this case deserves further scrutiny.”

Earlier this year, a Justice Department report said Phoenix police violated the constitutional rights of homeless people and disproportionately enforced laws against minorities, including people with behavioral disorders, CNN reported.

As to why McAlpin didn’t follow officers’ orders: “The answer is simple:
He’s deaf,” McAlpin’s attorney, Jesse Showalter, told KNXV.

“He couldn’t understand what they were doing,” Showalter said. “Everything I see in this video shows that Tyron is just trying to avoid harm from these officers and that only causes them to increase the escalation and the force they use.”

During a preliminary hearing on McAlpin’s case, both officers involved in the altercation said they did not recall extensive training in dealing with people who are hearing impaired, KNXV reported.

“That was about seven years ago. I don’t really remember much of it,” the first officer testified.

“Have you received any training in dealing with people with disabilities?” McAlpin’s attorney asked the second officer.

“Maybe just briefly, but nothing that I can remember,” he replied.

CNN has reached out to the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association for comment. In a statement to KNXV, the police union urged the public not to jump to conclusions.

“While some media outlets are making this incident about race and discrimination, it is really about two police officers in full Phoenix police uniform driving fully marked police cars and being immediately attacked by someone accused of committing a crime. “Our officers have the right to defend themselves against attack by using reasonable and necessary force depending on the circumstances,” the statement said. “We stand behind our officers and would like to warn the community to judge the incident until all evidence is reviewed and not just a snippet of bodycam footage.”

McAlpin’s first preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 13, and his trial is scheduled to take place at the end of February.

CNN’s Josh Campbell contributed to this report.