MUNCIE, Ind. (WTHR) - A Facebook video of Muncie police punching a suspect while he's down on the ground has captured nearly half a million viewers.
Joshua Douglas insists it was racially motivated. Muncie's police chief said Douglas resisted arrest. He took the unusual step of showing Eyewitness News the police body camera video. It tells a different story.
During a jail house interview, Douglas claimed he took a beating by police for only one reason.
"I'm black. I'm black," he said.
Douglas denied having drugs, trying to get away from police, or resisting when officers tried to arrest and handcuff him.
"I'm handcuffed, he said. "I'm being punched on. I am clearly not being resistant."
But that's not what police say happened.
"There were maybe 8 or 9, maybe ten strikes, all prefaced with, 'Give me your hands! Give me your hands!" explained Muncie Police Chief Joe Winkle.
Winkle allowed Eyewitness News to view but not record the video from one of the officers' body cameras. It clearly shows Douglas was not cuffed while officers struggled to get control of one of his hands. The punches appeared to land on Douglas's shoulders, not his face or head.
"We don't know if he has a gun in his pocket or his waist," the police chief explained. "We have to assume there a reason why he's not giving his hands up."
Police were called business area on Muncie's south side Sunday afternoon to investigate an intoxicated man. Officers say Douglas tried to evade him and tossed drugs behind a laundromat.
In the last 16 years, court records show Douglas has been arrested at least 16 times for drugs, resisting and other crimes.
Police allowed his cousin Tonikia Steans to see the body camera video as well. She said police were overly aggressive and asked whether the arrest would have been different if Douglas was white.
"Thank God they didn't kill my cousin. Thank God he is still alive. Thank God he can tell his side of the story," Steans said.
During the interview, Douglas pointed to a chipped tooth and bruises on his head, he said occurred during the arrest. He is charged with drug dealing, drug possession and resisting law enforcement.