Euclid Mayor Kirsten Gail said Tuesday, she is shocked and saddened by cell phone video that shows a traffic stop by police turning violent Saturday.
“It was hard to watch. I did not like the video I saw. It saddens me every time I see somebody being treated like that," Gail said.
Watch video of the arrest in the video player above. WARNING: Video contains vulgar language. Content may be considered disturbing to some.
Euclid police say the violent struggle started after a traffic stop.
Police say 25-year-old Richard Hubbard III refused to turn around as they ordered and resisted arrest when he was told to get on his stomach by Euclid police officer Michael Amiott.
Gail feels the video is hard to watch.
"It surprised me and it was very uncomfortable. It was disturbing,” Gail said.
Gail has been meeting with community members since the incident to calm tensions. She plans to review police department policies.
"We will be looking at all of our options," she said. "We will be looking at training. We will be looking at programs, and we are happy to work with community partners and faith leaders and anyone who wants to help us in that mission."
While Gail called the police officer's actions in the video disturbing, she said police work isn't always easy.
"The police have a very difficult job to do and it's up to us to make sure our police are doing the best job that they can by treating people fairly, with dignity and respect," Gail said.
Police are conducting an internal investigation into the incident. Officer Amiott was placed on paid leave after the incident.
The NAACP called the arrest excessive force.
Late Tuesday afternoon Euclid police released the report of the traffic stop.
The report says officer Amiott told Hubbard "give me your hands," several times but Hubbard did not comply.
Officer Amiott said he was concerned Hubbard might have a gun so he used "closed fist strikes" to gain compliance, but that didn't work.
No gun was found but police say they did find an open bottle of Hennessy Cognac and a small amount of marijuana in the car.
