FORREST CITY, Ark. – A Forrest City police officer whose actions have raised eyebrows in the past is once again at the center of controversy after witnesses claim he used a Taser on a man at a club Sunday morning.
Three short Snapchat videos show parts of the incident.
You could see officers attempting to subdue a man and after someone yells “Hey, chill out man,” you can hear the crackling of a Taser.
Police said they saw 34-year-old Syris Humphrey hitting a pregnant woman at the Blue Flame Club around 2:45 a.m.
After telling him to stop, they say Lt. Darren Smith tased Humphrey.
But the man who filmed the Snapchat videos, who wanted us to protect his identity, said Humphrey was tased with no warning.
“The dude was trying to get the girl from hitting him and then he just hit him with the Taser. He didn’t say nothing, he just hit him with the Taser.”
After the tasing, Smith said Humphrey called him the N-word and started attacking him, but the man who was filming said it was Smith who started beating Humphrey.
One of the videos shows several people appearing to grab Smith.
“He (Smith) jumped on top of him (Humphrey) then everybody went to bringing up and pulling the officer up from on top of him.”
Smith raised eyebrows and sparked a protest four months ago when he pulled a gun on a Walmart customer while off-duty.
He’s also the same officer who, in an interview with WREG last year, said, “Tasers require restraint.”
“I don’t how many, but Imma just say 30 to 40 police officers around here. He the only one starting altercations. Why just him? Why nobody else having this much problems?” said Timothy Graham, who claims Smith pulled a gun on him during a traffic stop earlier this year.
Forrest City Police Chief Deon Lee confirmed Smith remains on the job but declined to explain Smith’s actions further in an interview.
Humphrey was jailed on seven charges, including battery, aggravated assault and terroristic threatening.
“I see they got the guy in there charged on all those charges and that’s some (expletive),” said the man behind the Snapchat videos.
WREG discovered Humphrey has an extensive rap sheet dating back to 1998 when he was just a teenager for things like weapons and drugs as well as burglary.
Critics of Smith are calling for him to be fired.
“I think they need to get his (expletive) off the force.”
A spokesman for Arkansas State Police told WREG it hasn’t been asked to investigate the incident.
Lee said he hadn’t yet seen the videos but would be reviewing them.
