Body camera footage was released Thursday showing a controversial police encounter in Michigan City, Indiana, that led to a man's hospitalization for serious injuries he sustained as a result of being tased, according to his attorney.
The incident occurred Thursday afternoon when police officers were looking for a suspicious vehicle near the area of West Ninth Street and Huron, authorities said. Officers were chasing two men, possibly armed, and stopped Tahir Kelly who was walking in the area.
When approached by officers, Kelly gave them various names, authorities stated. Body camera footage shows officers talking to Kelly, and at one point, an officer asks him to turn around. Then, Kelly runs away.
Officers chase Kelly, and at least one deploys a taser, leading him to fall down, as shown on video. Moments later, an officer calls for an ambulance.
The video also showed police apparently discovering a gun inside Kelly's jacket.
On Thursday, a small group of family members and loved ones gathered outside of city hall, asking for a meeting with the city's mayor and police chief.
Kelly's attorney contends his client should have never been stopped in the first place.
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"If I don’t fit the description, if I'm doing nothing wrong, if I have a right to be on the street, you don’t have a right to stop me," said attorney Cannon Lambert.
Kelly’s mother said hours went by before she would learn that her son had been injured and taken to the hospital. Her son, who remains hospitalized, may need to be transferred to a trauma center and follow up with surgeons, she said.
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"His face is fractured," mother, Derris Baylor, told NBC 5 Thursday. "He has staples and stiches. He is really messed up."
Both relatives and the family attorney say the injuries don't add up.
"It doesn't make sense that someone would be tased, they fall, and they have drag marks on their face, it doesn't make sense," Lambert said.
Chief Dion Campbell of the Michigan City Police Department is "fully supporting the actions of the officers, stating, that they acted in accordance to the law and with professionalism after reviewing the incident and understanding the facts of the body camera," the department said in a news release.
Police referred the case to the LaPorte County Prosecutor's Office for review and possible gun charges.
