PHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 More than four years after the arrest of a former Phoenix police officer for using excessive force and assaulting a handcuffed man, the department has released new body-camera footage of the attack.<\/p>\n
The department arrested Conner Wesley Orth-Smith on July 23, 2021, after prosecutors reviewed the body-worn footage and expressed concern about how the situation unfolded.<\/p>\n
How it started<\/p>\n
Officers responded on July 16, 2021, to Banner Estrella Medical Center<\/a> on reports of a fight involving security guards at the hospital. In the bodycam, Orth-Smith arrives as two security guards appear to be restraining him outside of the hospital.<\/p>\n The video then shows Orth-Smith asking him to get up, but the man claims his leg is broken and he is heard saying that he \u201cdidn\u2019t do nothing, man.\u201d After a brief struggle and argument, the former officer said, \u201cLet\u2019s go, dude,\u201d and both of them appeared to be heading back to the police car.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t lean up against me or I\u2019m going to let you fall on your a**,\u201d Orth-Smith said while continuing to approach the police car. The man, still handcuffed and believed to be drunk or high, is held as Orth-Smith asks if he has anything on himself that is dangerous or illegal.<\/p>\n It\u2019s at this point that Orth-Smith asks security whether they were assaulted and whether they\u2019d like to press assault charges against the man. One guard said they would like it considered a trespassing situation, but did claim that the man \u201cgrabbed at\u201d his leg.<\/p>\n \u201cHop in the car. We\u2019re gonna get you off the property,\u201d Orth-Smith told the man as he entered the back of the police car and returned to ask more about what led up to the guards restraining him.<\/p>\n The hospital\u2019s security guards then explained that the man was waiting to be seen at the hospital but had \u201cbarged\u201d through a restricted area and needed to be escorted off. Seconds later, Orth-Smith returns to his car to turn on the engine and check on him.<\/p>\n \u201cListen, listen, you\u2019re not in trouble,\u201d Orth-Smith explained to the man.<\/p>\n A short while later, he tells dispatch that it wasn\u2019t an assault, but a trespassing situation and shortly after, returns to his car.<\/p>\n \u201cThey do not want prosecution. Where do you wanna go?\u201d Orth-Smith asked in the video. They talked for a bit, and then the man said he\u2019s going to jail. \u201cJail? You\u2019re not going to jail?\u201d Orth-Smith replied.<\/p>\n Both of them continue in a back-and-forth as the man requests a mental health facility in Avondale, which Orth-Smith said wasn\u2019t an option. Instead, he offers \u201cCBI,\u201d or Community Bridges<\/a>, a treatment center in Phoenix.<\/p>\n \u201cCBI or I drop you off on the side,\u201d Orth-Smith said. \u201cI drop you off the side of the road or I take you to CBI. Pick one!\u201d<\/p>\n The man remains insistent, and Orth-Smith is now heard frustrated about the ordeal.<\/p>\n \u201cThen you can walk your a** over there,\u201d Orth-Smith is heard saying on bodycam. \u201cAlright, I\u2019m going to drop you off.\u201d<\/p>\n They continued to argue. \u201cI don\u2019t f***ing care. You\u2019re getting out of my car. I don\u2019t have to do this s***. I\u2019m being nice to you but you don\u2019t understand that,\u201d Orth-Smith said.<\/p>\n Orth-Smith continues driving and ends up on the edge of Phoenix city limits: 99th Avenue and McDowell Road. He then pulls around to the back of a gas station into a dirt lot.<\/p>\n \u201cI do understand that, but you trespassed though,\u201d Orth-Smith said before opening the door. \u201cGet out, dude.\u201d <\/p>\n The man said he was having trouble, saying he was stuck. \u201cAlright, dude, you have five seconds to get out before I throw you out,\u201d Orth-Smith said.<\/p>\n Beating captured on bodycam<\/p>\n At that point, Orth-Smith is seen on the bodycam footage pulling the man out of the police car aggressively as he was lying down in the back of the vehicle. The man ends up on the ground.<\/p>\n Both continue to argue. \u201cF***ing stay on the ground. If you get up, I\u2019m going to kick your a**,\u201d Orth-Smith said.<\/p>\n A few moments later, the man grabs the door handle of the police car, and Orth-Smith says, \u201cDon\u2019t open that f***ing car door.\u201d The man uses it to get up, then approaches Orth-Smith, and a fight breaks out.<\/p>\n \u201cGet the f*** away,\u201d Orth-Smith said, before the footage shows the man falling onto the ground. It\u2019s at this point that Orth-Smith asks for paramedics and requests a supervisor. \u201cHe just got physical,\u201d Orth-Smith said.<\/p>\n Moments later, Orth-Smith once again approaches the man, when the man grabs the then-cop\u2019s legs and he begins repeatedly punching him with a closed fist and forearm.<\/p>\n \u201cGet off me, b****,\u201d Orth-Smith yelled. \u201cGet the f*** off me.\u201d The fight continues for a while longer as he tries to get the man to let go of his legs, then he begins kicking using his legs.<\/p>\n Backup arrives a short time later, and they use a restraint to keep the man from kicking his legs as they wait for paramedics to arrive. Two more officers arrived, and the man grabbed Orth-Smith\u2019s fingers. It\u2019s at this time that the man is asked to let go, and then Orth-Smith strikes him with his forearm.<\/p>\n Officers continue trying to get the man to get into the police car, still with handcuffs and a leg restraint. With the door open, the man grabbed Orth-Smith\u2019s pants and was asked to let go. He didn\u2019t, and then Orth-Smith hit the man in the head, causing him to hit the side of the plastic seat.<\/p>\n Ex-officer\u2019s fallout<\/p>\n In the days that followed, the then-23-year-old officer was arrested and resigned. Then-Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said the officer\u2019s behavior was \u201cegregious, appalling and will not be tolerated.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cActs like these leave a blemish on the badge and affect the noble profession of policing, making it more difficult for the men and women who police with integrity and honor,\u201d Williams said in July 2021.<\/p>\n According to the Associated Press, Orth-Smith was hired in May 2020. After graduating from the police academy, he was assigned to a precinct in west Phoenix months later.<\/p>\n The former officer was booked on three counts of suspicion of aggravated assault. His case was later dismissed after he completed a felony diversion program<\/a>, according to court records.<\/p>\n See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it<\/a>.<\/p>\n