An Arkansas police chief has shamefully resigned just 13 days into his new gig for slapping a man in a wheelchair and putting him in a headlock during a heated, caught-on-camera confrontation.
Osceola Police Chief Robert Ephlin handed over his letter of resignation to Mayor Joe Harris Jr. on Wednesday after viral footage of the alleged attack surfaced, WREG reported.
The viral video allegedly showed Ephlin standing over Danarius Williams after police were called to the Hyatt Apartments in Osceola following reports that Williams’ son and wife had been threatened by an armed individual.
Williams admitted that he told the former chief to “‘get your F–king hands off me, get your finger up out of my face,’” as tensions rose between the pair during the encounter.
“I didn’t touch him. I didn’t hit him,” Williams said.
The footage then shows Ephlin warning Williams before a slap is heard, causing Williams’ head to jerk to the side as onlookers react in anger. Seconds later, Ephlin allegedly placed Williams in a headlock as bystanders screamed for him to stop.
“He smacked me, he smacked the hell out of me, and then choked me. You came behind me in a chair,” Williams said. “I’m a paraplegic, can’t feel anything, can’t do anything from the belly button down.”
Williams told Fox 13 Memphis he was taken to the hospital and treated for minor injuries, but said the emotional impact of the incident on him and his family has been far more significant.
“I most definitely thought he could have choked me to death,” Williams said. “I can’t do anything … I can’t run from you. I can’t get away.”
In his resignation letter on Monday, Ephlin, who was sworn in on March 26, said it was an “honor” to lead the department, but that stepping down was the “best thing for me and my family.”
Mayor Harris Jr. expressed his fury when he first saw the footage of the viral incident.
“It pissed me off. I’m going to just say it, it did,” Harris said, WMC reported.
While Harris made clear he does not condone Ephlin’s actions, he insisted the behavior captured on video does not reflect the man he knows personally.
“When I saw the video I said ‘oh hell,’ because it really surprised me because Bobby Ephlin is not that kind of person,” Harris told WREG.
The Mayor said in Ephlin’s short time serving the community, he made a real difference.
“Everybody knows it was wrong but being Ephlin we know that’s not him. He’s at the school every week, working with the kids, doing things. It just wasn’t him,” he said.
Harris added that he is committed to ensuring the community is not remembered for the former chief’s actions.
“We are one of the most prosperous cities on the Mississippi River at this time and so we are not going to back down and give the wrong look,” Harris said. “We are going to hold our head up and move forward.”
In the wake of Ephlin’s resignation, Harris appointed Wells Scaggs as interim Chief of Police and called for an independent review of the incident by an outside agency.
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