LAPD Defends Arrest Of Man In Wheelchair Caught On Video

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Los Angeles Police Department says it plans to release "critical incident video" from body camera footage of the arrests that took place during a protest Tuesday — arrests which included one man using a wheelchair.

The man in the wheelchair was identified by police as Joshua Wilson. He appeared in bystander-shot video that has since gone viral on social media.

Many who shared the video expressed anger at officers' treatment of Wilson, who tumbled from his chair before his arrest. After Wilson fell to the ground, the video showed an officer dragging the wheelchair away from the scene of the arrest. In the process, the wheelchair lost a wheel.

In an LAPD news release, the department stated that Wilson's arrest came during the aftermath of actions by officers who were in the area that day investigating "two women who had shown indications of being in the midst of a mental health crisis. "

That investigation quickly turned in a chaotic situation.

First, around 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, in the area a Figueroa Street and Wilshire Boulevard, the officers witnessed David Dixon "yelling at and pushing another man" walking down the street, the department said. The officers arrested Dixon and found he had an outstanding warrant for assault with a deadly weapon.

With groups of officers attending to Dixon and the two women, a group of protesters attempted to vocally intervene in the arrests.

"An estimated group of 50 protesters who were marching in the area surrounded the officers and began chanting 'Let them go,'" the department said.

It was at this point that officers engaged with Joshua Wilson and his wheelchair — and where a bystander began filming.

The 57-second viral video starts in the middle of the action: Wilson, seated in his wheelchair, appears to push and flail at the officers with his arms. After he falls onto the ground, Wilson is seen grabbing an officers' baton until other officers join the fray and separate them. At the 19-second mark, Wilson appears to push officer in the upper chest and shoulder area.

According to the department, Wilson "punched an officer in the face and a use of force occurred between the officers and Wilson. He was taken into custody."

A third man, Mario Chacon, was arrested in the same incident. Macon tried to "grab one of the officers' equipment... and another use of force occurred." (The department's news release did not specify the details of the uses of the force.)

Police transported Chacon, Wilson and Dixon to the Central Division Police Station. There, officers found a loaded pistol in the backpack which had been hanging on Wilson's chair, the department said. (The video of the incident does not appear to show Wilson reaching for his backpack.)

Wilson has been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.