PICS: Tennessee Police Officer Chokes Unresisting College Student Until He's UNCONSCIOUS
- Deputies were called to a University of Tennessee student party that spilled out onto a residential street
- Students threw beer bottles at officers and several people were arrested
- A photographer on the scene took a series of photos of a deputy choking 22-year-old Jarod Dotson into unconsciousness
- The young man did not resist arrest, says the photographer
- He was complying with officers when the officer began to choke him
- Two other officers were behind Dotson, handcuffing him
- Knox County Sheriff's Department has not issued a statement on the incident
A
Tennessee photographer has captured the frightening moment a police
officer used what looks like excessive and unnecessary force on a
college student.
The
sequence of photographs show the young man, Jarod Dotson, 22, from
Knoxville, complying with Knox County deputies as they lead him to a
police van at the University of Tennessee, before an officer uses two
hands to choke the student until he is unconscious.
Dotson
was arrested, along with a number of friends, during a wild college
party celebrating after a week of finals that spilled out onto the
street on Saturday night.
Use of force: The officer begins to choke the
student, Jarod Dotson, center, or activate some kind of pressure point
to render him unconscious
Wild party: College students celebrating the end
of finals spilled out onto the street Saturday night and police were
called to clear the area
Unresisting: The student does not appear to resist as police remove one set of handcuffs to replace them with another
Threatening: An officer much larger than the
student, who still has his hands behind his back, approaches and lays
his hands on the young man's neck
Police
were called to clear the area at the intersection of 21st and Laurel
Streets in Fort Sanders, an area with a high concentration of college
students.
According
to photographer John Messner, some college students began to throw beer
bottles at police, who called for backup from the Knox County Sheriff's
office.
Dotson was arrested and handcuffed, then walked a block to a waiting police van at the University of Tennessee.
He went willingly and did not resist arrest, said Messner.
When
they got to the police van, the arresting deputy's handcuffs were
removed from the young man's wrists and replaced with cuffs from the
vehicle.
Arrested: Jarod Dotson, pictured, was arrested
and handcuffed, then walked a block to a waiting police van at the
University of Tennessee
Three to one: The young man did not resist arrest, according to the photographer who shot the images
College party: As he's handcuffed, the student's knees begin to buckle as he loses consciousness
Distressing: The officer's hands are still on the student's neck even as he passes out
During the brief moment his wrists were uncuffed, Dotson let his arms fall by his sides.
As
two officers twist his arms behind his back, another deputy walks in
front of the young man and wraps his hands around his neck.
The
disturbing sequence of shots show the 22-year-old appear to lose
consciousness, his knees buckling as he sinks to the ground, while the
deputy continues to choke him or activate a pressure point that renders
him unconscious.
The officers behind Dotson fiddle with his handcuffs even as he's being choked.
When
the young man was unconscious, the police picked him up and the officer
who choked him slapped him around the head a few times before walking
off, reports Messner.
Incapacitated: The young man sinks to the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back
Student: Dotson, pictured left and right, is a student at the University of Tennessee
All three officers are Knox County deputies assisting the Knoxville Police Department.
A call placed to the department and Dotson seeking comment wasn't immediately returned.
In
2011, Knoxville County officers stopped a carload of teenagers and
forced them to run in circles around a bat he kept in the trunk of the
car.
Sherriff Jimmy 'JJ' Jones demoted the five officers involved in the incident.
Jones'
action in disciplining the officers was well-received by the community.
He's now up for re-election, with early voting already taking place. 
