Police officer who was filmed yelling ‘chill out or I’ll choke you’ while holding assault suspect in headlock is under criminal investigation, watchdog says
- Officer pushed the man up against car in Halifax, West Yorkshire, during arrest
- They then pulled him to ground while arresting him on suspicion of assault
- In the clip, the officer appears to shout: ‘Chill out, or you’re going to sleep’
- IOPC said the officer is under a criminal and gross misconduct investigation
A police officer who yelled ‘chill out or I’ll choke you out’ while holding a suspect in a headlock is under criminal investigation, a watchdog has said.
Shocking footage – which has since gone viral on social media – shows an officer pushing Hassan Ahmed, 27, up against a car in Halifax, West Yorkshire on August 16.
He then pulls Ahmed to the ground on a road while arresting him on suspicion of assault.
Footage showed the man waving his hand across his throat during the arrest – as if complaining that he couldn’t breathe.
In the clip, the officer appears to shout: ‘Chill out or I’ll choke you out. Chill out, or you’re going to sleep. Chill out, chill out.’
A police officer who yelled ‘chill out or I’ll choke you out’ while holding a suspect in a headlock (pictured) is under criminal investigation, a watchdog has said
Around 100 people attended a protest outside Halifax police station in the days after the arrest, including Mr Ahmed’s sister Safyah, who said she was ‘sickened’ by what had happened.
On Wednesday, watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct said the officer is under a criminal and gross misconduct investigation.
He had already been suspended.
IOPC regional director Miranda Biddle said: ‘Having examined a range of evidence, including body-worn video and initial accounts from the officers involved in the restraint, we have taken the decision that this is now a criminal investigation.
‘A criminal investigation does not mean that criminal charges will necessarily follow.’
A man claiming to be the arrested person told MailOnline that it felt like a ‘racist attack for being a British Asian’.
The trouble flared in August when an officer parked up their marked police van to arrest the man on suspicion of assault.
One of the officers shouted: ‘Chill out or I’ll choke you out. Chill out, or you’re going to sleep’
Earlier in the incident the officer pushed him up against a car before pulling him to the ground
He was filmed flinging the man, wearing black cycling shorts, into into the back of a van as he pleaded: ‘Look. What have I done?’
The officer then appeared to grab the man around the neck and wrestled him to the ground on a zebra crossing between roadworks before placing him in an arm lock.
The officer was then heard telling the man to ‘chill out or I will choke you out’ as a colleague moves in to assistant in the arrest.
Both officers, wearing yellow high visibility vests, were seen to kneel on the man before the first one bellowed: ‘Turn over. Turn over. Now.’
The officer then flipped the man over onto his stomach. Both officers then pinned his arms behind his back and knelt on his shoulders while radioing for back up.