Rochester police are reviewing a combative arrest that occurred Monday evening on Avenue B and was captured in videos widely circulating on social media.
The videos show the man, identified by police as Kareem Franklin, 23, in a physical struggle with two officers beside the open door of a vehicle before being taken to the ground. Two other officers later join in to pin Franklin’s legs and midsection.
“I'm not saying that the father of my kid was not resisting, because in the video you can obviously see,” said Zydajah Williams, Franklin’s girlfriend. “But what he did not need to do was pick him up and slam him. He didn't need to choke him. In the video, you can literally see him choking him, and then he stops, like, ‘Oh my god, I'm getting recorded.’”
There is a point in the video, while wrestling, where one of the arresting officers, Mitchell Leach, puts an arm around Franklin’s neck for what appears to be about 4 seconds. Leach later places his shin and knee across Franklin’s upper back.
A police spokesperson denied that Franklin was held in a chokehold. Under the 2020 Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold Act, police officers are barred from using chokeholds, and face felony strangulation charges if they cause injury or death.
The leg technique used to restrain Franklin was described by a police spokesperson as a “three-point maneuver,” in which the knee is placed along the upper back and the head is left free. That differs from the segmenting technique used in the fatal 2020 arrest of Daniel Prude, the spokesperson said, by not restraining the head.
The supervisory review by RPD is standard with any use of force incident, police said. Leach has previously been the subject of several use of force complaints.
Franklin declined medical treatment and was taken to jail, police said. He was originally pulled over for an unspecified traffic violation, but was charged with harassment, obstruction of governmental administration, and possession of 30 grams of suspected cocaine. He also was charged with driving on a suspended license. Court records show Franklin ran a stop sign and failed to use a signal.
Franklin’s sister, Porche Franklin, said he had borrowed her car to run to the store, and was parked in front of the house where he stayed when police stopped him.
“This was way out of control, way out of control,” Porsche Franklin said. “Over some traffic violations, and he's pulling up at his home. The car is registered at that house. And he's opening up his door, telling you, like, ‘Hey, I live here, I live here’ with both of his hands out.”
While she said her brother shouldn’t have been driving and did resist, she said she thought officers escalated the situation.
