While Spokane Police Sergeant Eric Kannberg is being praised for his patience in dealing with a tough situation with a belligerent person, that individual is now saying he plans to sue.
At issue is body cam video the department posted to its Facebook page Wednesday that showed how Kannberg was dealing with one drunken individual when another person approached him and intervened. That video subsequently went viral on Facebook, racking up tens of thousands of views in the first 24 hours.
The man who contacted Kannberg, who was arrested on a third-degree assault charge, the arrest captured on video, says the police department shouldn’t have posted the video. The man’s attorney said the department should not have posted the video before the man who was arrested had his day in court.
The police department, however, says the video they posted wasn’t private, and they did it to show the patience Kannberg displayed in trying to peacefully resolve the situation.
“Everybody in the department was completely impressed by SGT Kannberg”s patience during this contact,” Spokane Police Sergeant Jordan Ferguson said.
During the incident, went on for nearly four minutes, Kannberg asked the individual to step away from him multiple times and, at one point, the man hit the officer’s hand. Eventually, after running down the street, Kannberg caught up with him and took him into custody.
Since the department posted the video has been shared more than 2,500 times, racking up a quarter of a million views, with many commenters praising Kannberg for his patience.
We wanted to show the patience we go through, when we’re involved in some of these calls, and the right way to do things,” Ferguson said.
Via KXLY