Police bodycam footage of an interaction between Ohio officers and a paraplegic man has gone viral after officers ripped the man from his car during a traffic stop late last month.
Clifford Owensby, a Black 39-year-old from Ohio, has filed a complaint with the NAACP after the incident when he was pulled out of his car by his hair and arms.
"They dragged me to their vehicle like a dog, like trash," Owensby said during a news conference Sunday, CNN reported.
The Dayton Police Department has now been accused by Owensby of profiling, unlawful arrest, illegal search and seizure, and failure to read him his rights before taking him to Jail, the President of the Dayton Unit for the NAACP Derrick Foward said.
The nearly 12-minute video of the Sept. 30 incident was released on Friday by the DPD, going viral online almost instantly.
Officers were interacting with Owensby after they observed him leaving a suspected drug house in the area, Dayton Police Major Brian Johns reported in a briefing.
He shared that based on his past felony drug and weapons history along with their observation, it was enough for the officers to request a Narcotics Detection K-9 unit. The K-9's were going to conduct a free-air sniff of the vehicle.
"Dayton Police Department policy requires the occupants of the vehicle to exit for their own safety and safety of the K-9 officer to perform this free-air sniff," Johns said.
In the video, after calling for the K-9 unit, one of the officers returned to Owensby, asking him to step out of the driver's seat.
It was then that Owensby informed the officer he couldn't step out because he was paralyzed.
"I'm a paraplegic," he told the officer. "I got help getting in."
The officer told him that he would assist him in getting out of the car, but Owensby told the officer not to touch him and to call his superior.
The officer then said that he would call his superior, but only after Owensby stepped out of the vehicle.
"So you can cooperate and get out of the car, or I will drag you out of the car. You see your two options here?" the officer yells at Owensby, who repeats his request for the officers to call a superior.
Oswenby continued to tell the officer that he could not get out of the vehicle because he was paralyzed. Trying to get help to explain to the officers that he could not get out of the car, Owensby called someone asking them to come down the street and help him.
Two officers standing in the door of Owensby's car then grabbed him while Owensby struggled and continued to yell that he was a paraplegic.
One officer grabbed him by the arm and collar as the other grabbed his hair, dragging him out of the vehicle and throwing him on the ground.
Johns shared that Owensby was taken to a local hospital, where he was examined for possible injuries and released. He also shared that the officers retrieved a bag of cash from Owensby's vehicle, totaling $22,450.
Owensby claimed on Sunday that the money was his savings and no weapons or drugs were found in a search; he also was not charged with any drug-related offenses.
The police incident report from the DPD showed that Owensby was charged with obstructing official business and resisting arrest.
But Owensby says that incident has left him sleepless.
"I have nightmares," Owensby said about the arrest. "I should not have to leave out of my house every day wondering if this is going to happen to me again."
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