Video shows St. Louis police struggling with a man holding a baby.
The video immediately went viral on twitter after being viewed more than 6,000 times and shared more than 3,500 times.
Officers say that the footage is misleading and the person who tweeted the video acknowledges not knowing the circumstances.
Read St. Louis County Police statement below
Good morning. We want to address a video that was brought to our attention on yesterday. The video was a culmination of a domestic assault call in which officers were attempting to safely take the suspect into custody and secure a young child. It is selectively edited and depicts only portions of what occurred.
On July 7, 2019 at approximately 11:07 AM, St. Louis County Police officers from the North County Precinct responded to a call for service regarding a domestic assault. Upon their arrival, officers contacted a victim, a 28 year old female, who stated that her child’s father assaulted her, damaged property inside the home, and left with their young child. The victim gave a description of the suspect to officers.
A St. Louis County Police officer located the suspect shortly after at a nearby bus stop. That officer advised him he was being detained in reference to a domestic violence investigation. The suspect refused to comply with the officer numerous times while continually placing the young child between himself and the officer.
A back-up officer arrived on scene to assist and gave several verbal commands for the suspect to release the child and comply. He continued to refuse to comply. The officers used the least amount of force possible to compel the suspect to comply.
The suspect was ultimately arrested for Domestic Assault in the Fourth Degree, Property Damage in the Second Degree, Resisting Arrest, and numerous outstanding warrants.
Two St. Louis County Police supervisors responded to the scene. Officers also requested EMS service for the young child to check him for injuries before releasing back to his mother. The child was uninjured.
The was no Taser deployment in the incident.
We want the community to be aware that our department investigates incidents in their entirety and does not limit that investigation to what parts may or may not have been video recorded. As always, we strongly encourage any witnesses to any parts of the investigation to reach out with details that will help to create a complete timeline of the event.