Man in viral video charged with misdemeanors

A man whose arrest was captured on video by onlookers — then went viral online — was charged Wednesday with several misdemeanors.

Justin Allen Glaspey, 33, of Ada, was charged in Pontotoc County District Court with actual physical control of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, attempting to elude a police officer and resisting an officer.

Law enforcement officers had asked for felony charges of assault and battery on police officers, but District Attorney Erik Johnson declined.

Johnson indicated that, while he doesn’t doubt the officers’ accounts of what occurred, evidence of assault was insufficient to warrant charges.

“My job is to look at all the facts and file the charges that I feel are appropriate,” Johnson said, “So, I did.”

The arrest

Glaspey was arrested on July 31.

A passerby captured part of the arrest on video. In the video, it shows Glaspey outside of a vehicle, where he is then wrestled to the ground by several officers. While on the ground, it showed one officer, a Chickasaw Lighthorse police officer, deliver at least two strikes with his knee, then punched Glaspey several times.

The footage can be viewed by visiting https://www.theadanews.com/news/local_news/police-release-body-cam-footage-of-glaspey-arrest/article_251143c8-3313-11ee-bd06-d3f0c4e1a6c7.html.

Before the arrest, a person who requested anonymity called Central Dispatch and reported Glaspey as being a drunk driver and described the vehicle he was reportedly driving.

Glaspey was located at Ada Wal-Mart in the parking lot, reportedly sitting in the vehicle described by the caller.

During the first interaction with police and subsequent arrest, Glaspey maintained that he wasn’t driving the vehicle before first contact, and refused to comply with orders because they were unlawful, he said.

Ada Police Chief Carl Allen said Glaspey was given dozens of lawful commands, all of which he ignored.

The Ada Police Department later released body camera footage of the arrest.

In the body cam footage of Ada Police Officer Chad Reid, it showed Reid approaching the vehicle in which Glaspey was sitting.

As Reid approached, Glaspey yelled out, “What’s up?”

Reid then said, “Hello,” to which Glaspey again asked, “What’s up?”

Reid indicated that Central Dispatch received a call from someone who was concerned about Glaspey and that APD was there to do a welfare check on him.

Glaspey then asked several times, “From who?”

Reid didn’t answer, but seemed to be checking with another officer, then asked Glaspey, “Are you OK?”

Glaspy replied, “I’m Fine. I’m fine, thanks.”

Glaspey put the vehicle in drive while Reid grabbed the vehicle by the door jamb and yelled, “Hey! Hey! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! Sir, stop!” as Glaspey drove away.

Reid and APD Sgt. Jussely Canada, who had just exited her patrol unit and was approaching the scene, got back in their vehicles and conducted a traffic stop on Glaspey, who stopped about 75 to 100 yards from where he was located during the first interaction with Reid.

Allen said, “By driving away, officers had probable cause to arrest Glaspey for failure to comply with a lawful order and attempting to elude.”

After Glaspey stopped, Reid once again approached the vehicle, and yelled, “Step out of the car!” then said, “Turn the car off!” as he got closer.

Glaspey again asked, “What’s up?”

Reid asked Glaspey why he drove away from him to which Glaspey indicated it was because he didn’t know what Reid was talking about.

Reid again told Glaspey to step out of the car. At that point, Canada approached and yelled, “Get out of the car!” several times.

Glaspey refused and questioned why the officers wanted him to get out of the car.

As both officers continued to order Glaspey to get out of the car, Canada opened the passenger side door and removed the keys from the ignition.

Canada warned Glaspey that she was about to tase him, then deployed her taser. As the electrodes were firing, it seemed to not affect Glaspey, who looked down, pulled the taser prongs out and threw them in the direction of Canada.

Many times throughout the video, Canada said that Glaspey had committed an assault on a police officer when he threw the prongs back at her. She later indicated that when Glaspey threw the prongs at her, she, too, was tased.

Both Reid and Canada continued to order Glaspey to get out of the vehicle, but Glaspey refused and continued to indicate that he did nothing wrong and that the orders were unlawful.

Lighthorse police officers arrived on the scene, and one pointed a pepper ball gun at Glaspey. He ordered Glaspey to get out of the vehicle, then began counting down. Glaspey then exited the vehicle.

Officers then wrestled Glaspey to the ground. Once on the ground, it appeared Glaspey tucked his hands underneath his body. On several occasions, officers said, “Hands behind your back!”

Glaspey, with his face to the ground, said, “I’m a child welfare specialist.”

One officer then yelled, “I don’t care what you are, hands behind your back!”

Canada then said, “Hands behind your back or you’re going to get tased.” Then, another officer said, “Drive stun him, drive stun him,” which Canada then did.

On video captured by a passerby, which was posted to social media, it showed one Lighthorse officer deliver blows (what police call compliance strikes) with his knees and fists, reportedly to Glaspey’s shoulder.

On the body cam footage, Glaspey is overheard saying, “You want to assault me?”

The footage then appeared to show Lighthorse Police Officer Michael Lindsey punch Glaspey in the face three times and said, “Don’t bite me!”

It is not possible to see whether or not Glaspey bit Lindsey from the footage of either body cam.

In a report, Lindsey wrote:

“As I exited my patrol unit, I observed Glaspey resist officers as they attempted to take him into custody. Glaspey had to be taken to the ground, to which he continued to resist. Glaspey tucked his arms up under his body and refused to allow officers to place him into handcuffs. I applied several hand strikes and knee strikes to Glaspey‘s right shoulder blade area in an attempt to gain control of his hands. Glaspey still refused to allow officers to place him into cuffs. Sgt. Massengale of Lighthorse PD was able to gain control of Glaspey’s right hand and placed it into handcuffs. As I rotated to Glaspey’s left side to start trying to gain control of that hand, Glaspey began to use his teeth and bit down on my right knee. To stop him from biting, I applied two hand strikes to Glaspey’s head region. It was at this time Glaspey used his left hand and hit me with a closed fist in the groin area. Again, I applied two more hand strikes, which allowed the other officers to gain control of Glaspey’s right hand.”

Once Glaspey was in handcuffs, all the officers but one stood up and walked back.

Glaspey and the officers continued to argue with each other, then Canada said, “Well, you have about three or four felony counts going on you now.”

Angry, Glaspey asked, “For what?”

“Assault on a police officer ...” Canada replied.

“What did I do to assault you?” Glaspey asked in a surprised tone.

“You bit him, and you hit me,” Canada replied.

“What did I do that assaulted him? What did I do? What did I do? Because someone starts hitting me and I don’t allow him to do it? and you want to play this game? You know who the (expletive) I am, you’ve seen me.”

Later, on Canada’s body cam footage, she asked Lindsey, “How many times did he hit you?”

“Hit me once, bit me once,” Lindsey replied.

At one point, Glaspey continued to argue his innocence when Canda said, “Take it up with the judge.”

Glaspey then said, “That’s fine, that’s fine, I’ll take it up with your parents,” which appeared to anger Canada.

Glaspey then said he knew “secrets” about Canada and her family, then mentioned other names.

Angry, Canada asked, “Are you threatening my family?” to which Glaspey replied, “Yeah, all day.”

The arguing between police and Glaspey continued, including when he was taken into the Pontotoc County Justice Center.

Glaspey was later released after posting bail, which was set at $25,000.

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