Former Omaha Police Department officers Scotty Payne and Ryan McClarty will face charges of assault for their roles in the death of Zachary Bear-heels, a 29-year-old man with mental illness. Bear-heels was arrested on June 5. The Oklahoma man endured at least one dozen stun gun shocks in an arrest that was caught on video, as seen in the below footage. Backlash over the prosecution of Payne and McClarty has begun online, with the two former Omaha police officers having been fired earlier this month, as recommended by Police Chief Todd Schmaderer.
After Zachary was beaten and tased for his alleged “erratic behavior” in Omaha, he died in police custody. Payne has been with the force five years, according to the New York Times. McClarty, meanwhile, is a two-year veteran with the force, and has been charged with punching Bear-heels, a misdemeanor assault. Zachary didn’t commit a crime, said County Attorney Don Kleine. Instead, Kleine said Bear-heels was a person suffering from severe mental illness. The officers were not charged with murder or manslaughter, according to Kleine, because there isn’t evidence that they killed Bear-heels intentionally. The coroner’s office called Bear-heels’ death one brought on by “excited delirium.”
Warning: The below video contains scenes that might be disturbing to viewers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_65itQdQNPM
Payne and McClarty lost their jobs on Friday, in the wake of the Omaha Police Department’s investigation into the incident. Payne is 38 and McClarty is 27. Payne’s attorney called his client “devastated” and stated that Payne “feels terrible because a person lost his life.”
Bear-heels was a Native American man whose community has rallied around him in the wake of his death. The melee began on June 3, when Bear-heels took a bus to travel from Murdo, South Dakota, to Oklahoma City. After being dropped off in Omaha, Bear-heels wasn’t allowed to get back on the bus because a passenger had complained about his behavior.
Bear-heels’s mother later reported her son missing, and told authorities he suffered from bipolar disorder, and said he had schizophrenia.
https://twitter.com/BrandonWOWT/status/890228059994963968
Officers found Bear-heels dancing in front of a gas station and convenience store, refusing to leave. Payne discharged his stun gun and struck Bear-heels in his abdomen and right thigh. Bear-heels continued to resist and continued to be tased.
Eventually, Bear-heels slipped out of his cuffs and flailed his arms and kicked his legs. Bear-heels was later placed on a gurney and stopped breathing at one point. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
County Attorney Don Kleine explains charges against two OPD cops after Zachary Bearheels death at 808 on 1110 KFAB @kfabnews pic.twitter.com/aB4Lz6zjoU
— NewsRadio 1110 KFAB (@kfabnews) July 27, 2017
[Featured Image by Omaha Police/AP Images]
