‘Get Your Hands Off Me, Man!’: Black Arizona Father Handcuffed After Calling 911 to Report His Daughter’s Abduction, Then Fired from His Job After Video Goes Viral
An Arizona man was fired from his job after a viral video showed him being detained by police after he called for their help to report a child abduction.
Darnay Cockrell called 911 on Aug. 6 after the mother of his 4-year-old daughter allegedly took the child from his apartment in Mesa, Arizona. He said the woman showed up at his home and wouldn’t leave. Then, she took off with the child while he wasn’t looking.
However, when police arrived and encountered Cockrell, the situation escalated.
Video taken by a bystander that’s been widely circulated on social media shows the 52-year-old struggling with two officers in the parking lot of his apartment complex.
The officers are seen trying to force Cockrell to the ground while he repeatedly asks them to stop, articulating that he was recovering from a recent surgery. The cops don’t answer Cockrell as they focus their efforts on restraining him.
After finally getting him on the ground and cuffing him, the video shows Cockrell sitting in the parking lot as the two officers questioned him:
“What’s going on with your baby mama? That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” a male officer is heard asking Cockrell in the video.
The video shows Cockrell trying to get off the ground.
“You’re going to stay on the ground,” the officer tells Cockrell.
“Don’t touch me anymore, I swear to God, don’t touch me anymore,” Cockrell responds.
“You brought this upon yourself,” the officer states.
“Man, I’m pissed off. How the f*** you going to feel if somebody got your kid?” Cockrell says.
Police allowed local news outlets to view body camera video of the handcuffing but have not yet released the footage for public viewing.
According to ABC15, the video shows Cockrell’s detainment occurring several minutes into the encounter.
When the first officer arrived, Cockrell was seen quickly running down the stairs to confront him about his daughter and her mother. The officer told Cockrell that police found his daughter and told him to sit down several times, but Cockrell didn’t comply, likely due to a “high level of emotion,” police said in a statement.
Audio from the bodycam footage was released and revealed the first few moments of the conversation between Cockrell and the first responding officer:
“Hey, she took my kid!” Cockrell is heard telling the officer when he arrives.
“Yeah, we’re out with her. We’re out with her. Relax. Relax,” the male officer responds.
“Get your hands off me, man!” Cockrell says.
“Hey, relax,” the officer states.
“She took my f***ing kid!” Cockrell says.
“Yeah, sit down!” the officer responds.
“What are you doing, man? I want to know where my kid at,” Cockrell says.
“We’re out with your kid,” the officer says.
“I don’t see her,” Cockrell says.
“Yeah, because she’s at the intersection, so calm down,” the officer answers.
Police called Cockrell’s response to the situation “understandable,” adding that “because emotions were so high, he was not following reasonable directions given to him by the officer and made comments that spiked concern for officer safety.”
Authorities confirmed that Cockrell was detained but wasn’t arrested or suspected of any crime. He was later released, and his daughter was returned to him.
Cockrell’s ex was arrested for disorderly conduct under the domestic violence law.
After the video of the police encounter went viral, Cockrell was terminated from his job because he was wearing a company shirt in the video, according to a GoFundMe fundraiser set up on his behalf.
Cockrell filed a complaint with the Mesa Police Department.
After reviewing the complaint, Mesa Police stated that the department found no policy violations in the officers’ response during the incident, but they will both receive additional training. Police revealed that the first responding officer had recently graduated from the police academy and had only been on solo patrol duty for two months.