ROCK HILL, S.C. — Some community members and groups in Rock Hilll are calling the arrest of two men Wednesday an excessive use of force.
A bystander captured the video of the arrest of Travis and Ricky Price (warning: explicit language) outside a gas station, which sparked protests on Wednesday and Thursday.
What to know
Some community members and lawmakers are criticizing police by their use of force during arrest
A viral video taken by a bystander of the arrest has sparked protests
Ricky Price’s bond was denied Thursday morning but Travis bonded out Thursday afternoon
Thursday morning, family members of the Price brothers, two state representatives, Rock Hill’s NAACP and the city’s Black Lives Matter chapter condemned police actions.
Family attorney and South Carolina State Representative Justin Bamberg said Ricky Price has a broken nose and is in a wheelchair following the incident.
“There’s no reason for the level of force we saw use in the video yesterday. No reason for that. Both of these fellows (were) completely unarmed,” Bamberg said.
According to Rock Hill police, the Violent Crimes and the Department of Homeland Security were conducting operations targeting violent and narcotic dealing offenders. Officers were conducting surveillance Wednesday when they pulled over Ricky Price after they said he made an illegal turn and changed lanes unlawfully.
After Ricky Price pulled his car into a gas station at 329 Willowbrook Avenue, officers said they called a K-9 unit due to their past encounters with him.
Officers said they found two bags of marijuana and a pistol in the car. During the search, Ricky’s brother,Travis, arrived to the scene and police said he was told to move back. However, authorities said he bumped into officers instead, trying to get closer to his brother.
Police said after Travis Price shoved officers, they pushed him against a large tank and told him to put his hands behind his back. Police said Travis Price was not complying, which led to a struggle, and Travis being taken to the ground.
Police said while they tried to satisfy Ricky Price’s request of passing on his jewelry to someone on-scene, officers removed Ricky Price's handcuffs. At that time, they claim Ricky attempted to flee and threw several punches, which ended up striking an officer on the face.
After that, officers said they brought out a K-9 unit, but the struggle continued until Ricky Price was brought to the ground.
Rock Hill police said an officer punched Ricky Price’s thigh on the peroneal nerve to gain compliance, but when that didn’t work, the officer punched Ricky Price in the nose.
At that point, Ricky Price was taken into custody and transported by EMS to Piedmont Medical Center for treatment. Authorities said they ended up finding crack cocaine where he was seated.
Ricky Price was charged with possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, carrying a pistol unlawfully, unlawful possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a violent offense and resisting arrest.
His brother, Travis Price, was charged with hindering police.
Throughout the video recorded by a bystander, you can hear her say several times, the two men are not resisting arrest.
South Carolina State Representative John King criticized police’s actions.
“Enough is enough, and we as Black folk in this community, in this state and in this country, we are tired of being of seeing Black men and Black women beaten and killed in this country,” Rep. King said.
NAACP Rock Hill Branch President Dr. Norma Gray encouraged residents to protest, but said they should do it peacefully.
“We can’t do wrong to right the wrongs, we must continue to protest peacefully, not to show out, but to show up, to say enough is enough, and this will not happen in Rock Hill,” Gray said.
Some of the protests Wednesday escalated, but no arrests were made. According to police, some officers were struck with bottles and rocks, and someone set a fire near the police department.
Rock Hill said there is body camera of the incident, but per state law has not been released due to pending charges and review.
On Thursday night, Rock Hill Police Chief Chris Watts said he would support the release of the body camera video once all witnesses have been interviewed and the family can watch video.
He emphasized the viral Facebook video doesn't tell entire story but said he watched it.
“It does not look good. I don’t think any police officer would look at it and say 'that’s a good look,' so when you see it in video and then some of the information is incorrect. When you add incorrect information to what you see on video, it makes it worse so we have to deal with that. I cannot give any false information out. I have to make sure before I speak that it's correct," Watts said.
He added, two Rock Hill officers are on administrative leave pending the investigation, and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is conducting an independent investigation on the case.
Dr. Gray with the NAACP asked the community for patience as local and state leaders investigate this incident.
“What was happening to Ricky that caused them to bring him to ground was not captured, and that is the footage that needs to be analyzed so that the public can be aware of what caused that violence,” Dr. Gray said.
Both Gray and Watts welcomed peaceful protests.
“We want to make sure everyone gets home safely, so I'm asking you, I am appealing to you Rock Hill citizens: let’s protests peacefully and let’s allow the process that we fight for, that we vote for, to work for all Rock Hill,” Gray said.
Ricky and Travis Price had a bond hearing Thursday morning. Ricky Price was denied bond, but Travis Price bonded out of jail Thursday afternoon.