LMPD :: Louisville Metro Police Department
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Video appears to show LMPD officer striking man with flashlight

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A Louisville Metro Police officer is the subject of an internal investigation after a YouTube video surfaced that appears to show the officer striking a person in the head with a flashlight at 4th Street Live.

The video, taken on Sept. 11, shows two officers approaching a man and them grabbing him.

At one point in the video, one of the officers strikes the man with what appears to be a flashlight. The officers then get the man on the ground, asking him repeatedly to turn over so they can handcuff him.

Eventually the man appears to comply with the request. During the video, onlookers comment about the actions of the police and say the man can be seen bleeding from being struck.

Dwight Mitchell, a Louisville Metro Police spokesman, said Officer James Conley will be placed on paid administrative leave while the internal investigation is conducted. Mitchell would not comment on whether the public integrity unit or professional standards unit is conducting the investigation. Public integrity handles criminal complaints, while professional standards handles policy violations.

The second officer seen in the video is not being investigated and his name was not released.

Both officers were on duty at the time of the incident and working their assigned beats in the First Division, which covers downtown, Mitchell said.

Police Chief Robert White ordered the investigation after he was informed about the video on Monday evening, Mitchell said. The investigation began Tuesday. Mitchell would not talk about specifics of the investigation because it is on-going.

The man struck in the video has been identified as Zackery Hoagland. According to an arrest citation issued to Hoagland on Sept. 11, he was arrested at 3:50 a.m. and charged with public intoxication, disorderly conduct, menacing and resisting arrest.

On the arrest citation, officers wrote that they witnessed Hoagland involved in a loud argument that led to him threatening to fight another individual. As officers approached, Hoagland allegedly grabbed the arresting officer's uniform shirt at the collar and raised a closed fist, threatening to strike, the citation said.

The report said Hoagland struggled and resisted arrest. He also smelled of alcohol and exhibited signs that he was "heavily intoxicated."

The video, which seems to have been taken by a witness standing nearby, does not show the entire incident or any fight between the person identified as Hoagland and anyone else.

YouTube Video