A Detroit sergeant has been placed on leave after a video shows him punching a man in the head.
The incident on June 30 started as Jimmie Wilson was walking home after picking up takeout food. A fire truck backs up in front of him to turn around, WXYZ reported.
“As I’m walking by, the fire truck pushing back. I’m pretty sure...I thought he saw me. But he kept backing back. I said hey! Just to alert him, and I kept going,” Wilson told a reporter.
He is seen walking towards the rig.
“I said you all need to watch where the (expletive) you going. As soon as I said that, it was like I saw the passenger door open. And before that, he’s in my face.”
He and the sergeant are out of view for a moment but when they reappear, the firefighter is seen with his hand around Wilson’s collar before shoving him into the fire rig.
“I’m like, just get out of my face. And that’s when he grabbed me. And then he threw me. I thought he was going to throw me to the ground and then I hit the truck, and that’s when the other firemen came in.”
Wilson says he was trying to get away.
“I tried to yank myself away. In the video, I try to yank myself away. And that’s when he just started punching.”
The sergeant is seen punching Wilson three times in the head. After he fell to the ground, he was punched two more times. Four firefighters stood over him while he was on the sidewalk.
“There’s never an indication that Mr. Wilson ever even tried to defend himself,” his attorney Brandon McNeal told the reporter. “Mr. Wilson would have been justified in fighting back. But clearly from the video, Mr. Wilson never throws any punches in order to defend himself.”
But firefighters said Wilson did throw a punch. In fact, they said he threw the first punch.
Wayne County prosecutors are investigating to determine if charges will be filed in the case.
Firehouse.com News
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