Police to investigate arrest of NBA star Jaxson Hayes in Southern California
The chief of the Los Angeles Police Department has ordered use-of-force detectives to investigate the arrest of NBA player Jaxson Hayes, accused by LAPD of fighting with officers when they responded to a Woodland Hills residence for a suspected domestic violence incident.
Chief Michel Moore said during the Police Commission meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 3, that Hayes, a 21-year-old center for the New Orleans Pelicans, was seen on police body-camera footage on July 28 repeatedly trying to get back inside the residence in the 22800 block of Mariano Street, where officers were trying to interview a victim.
Moore said the footage shows police ordering Hayes to stay outside and blocking him from entering.
As officers tried to arrest him, police have said, Hayes broke free and pushed an officer against a wall.
The officers pushed Hayes to the ground, police said, shooting him with a stun gun and using their body weight to keep him restrained, with the alteration lasting about two and a half minutes before the suspect could be handcuffed.
The chief said during the arrest that Hayes “was complaining of having trouble breathing, saying that he could not breathe.” He was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Moore said he reviewed the incident and consulted with the department’s Force Investigation Division detectives. Based on Hayes saying he couldn’t breathe, the chief ordered detectives to investigate the incident as what the department refers to as “a categorical use of force.”
The incident was initially judged as a non-categorical use of force.
LAPD defines a categorical use of force as an incident “involving use of deadly force by LAPD officers, including officer-involved shootings, neck restraints and head strikes.”
Non-categorical uses of force involve less-lethal projectiles, such as stun guns and bean bag shotguns, or physical force to subdue someone.
“Categorical use-of-force investigations are much more involved,” Moore said.
An internal LAPD disciplinary panel, as well as the Police Commission, are required to review categorical uses of force and decide whether the officers followed department policy. If they didn’t, they could be fired.
The department’s categorical use-of-force policy requires LAPD to release footage of the arrest within 45 days of the incident.
LAPD said it arrested Hayes on suspicion of resisting arrest. But he has not been charged yet. After leaving the hospital, Hayes was booked into the Van Nuys jail and later released on $50,000 bail.
Shortly after the arrest, police said, “There was a female at the location who declined to cooperate with officers’ investigation into the original domestic dispute call.”