Facebook Thell Riddle, Zack King and Levi White
Thell Riddle, Zack King, and Levi White were named as the three law enforcement officers who are seen in a viral Mulberry police video in Crawford County, Arkansas.
The viral video shows what appears to be the three law enforcement officers beating suspect Randal Worcester in a use-of-force incident that is under investigation by state police in that state.
The video involves two Crawford County Sheriff’s deputies and a City of Mulberry police officer. The deputies have been identified as Zack King and Levi White and the Mulberry Police Department officer has been named as Thell Riddle, the sheriff’s office confirmed on Facebook. You can watch the video later in this article, but be aware that it is really graphic. The video has had millions of views online. The FBI is investigating possible civil rights violations.
“The Deputies involved in the video yesterday are Deputy Zack King, Deputy Levi White and Mulberry Officer Thell Riddle,” the Sheriff’s Department wrote in the post. “There was a comment shared about Zack King’s address yesterday, this is a civilian and is NOT the Crawford County Deputy or associated with the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office. Please refer questions to the Arkansas State Police and Federal Bureau of Investigations. We are cooperating with all aspects of their investigation and will make a statement to the public at a later time.” Some people on social media were spelling the deputy’s name as Zach King, but the sheriff gave the spelling as Zack.
“Everything concerns me about this case,” Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante said in a news conference. He said there are “bad apples” in every profession. He said he did not want to give his opinion on whether the officers’ actions amounted to excessive force until after the state police investigation concludes. Without the citizen video, he said he would probably not have known about the incident.
“Nobody condones this type of activity; this kind of violence,” he said. “…It’s not what we stand for.”
Worcester, 27, of Goose Creek, South Carolina, is the man in the video, according to jail records.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. The Sheriff Accused Worcester of Attacking Deputies First; Riddle Has Worked as a Small-Town Police Chief in Oklahoma
Riddle has the most active social media accounts still visible.
His LinkedIn page says he was chief of police for the Gans Police Department for more than 12 years. He also worked as a sheriff’s deputy for the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Department, as a police officer with the Kibler Police Department, and as a deputy for the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department. His law enforcement experience dates back to 2008. He graduated from Cedarville High School, according to LinkedIn.
The page is not updated, however; in 2017, the City of Mulberry welcomed Riddle as a police officer there. One woman wrote on that comment thread that Riddle was “aweseome” in Gans. Gans is a community of about 300 people in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma.
Riddle was quoted in a 5News Online story on a house fire as the Gans police chief.
Whether officers were justified in using force will be determined by an Arkansas state police investigation.
However, the Crawford County sheriff says Worcester attacked deputies first, pushing an officer to the ground and punching him in the head, according to THV11.
A state police investigation will review the officers’ use-of-force actions. The FBI is also investigating the incident, the sheriff’s office said.
On Facebook, Worcester wrote that he is from Las Vegas, Nevada, but lives in South Carolina. He shared music videos and selfies mostly, including pictures of his tattoos. He has previous addresses in Oklahoma, according to court records.
In April, he reminisced about painting graffiti in Nevada:
ABC is officially a group again. The main head is currently busy playing pro baseball. Bryce Harper created the group during our childhood on the east side of Las Vegas Nevada. It stands for Alpha Bet Crew. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated at 16 years old, while I was 14 doing graffiti and controling the east side of vegas. Im getting ready to put in work for ABC in an attempt to gain more control over the southern states our chickasaw ansestors battled in from coast to coast. We are both on a quest for world power and also becoming the greatest in American History. R.I.P SPEAKER KNOCKERZ my friend from high school years. FREE WAR MACHINE my friend from East Vegas. A big thank you to every one participated in the great events hosted by LAS VEGAS! BIG UPS TO THE PAINTERS ON TRAINS THAT IS OUR CULTURE AND WE ARE THE BEST ARTIST ON EARTH USA! USA! USA! this was mandatory procedure and very dangerous process but now tell me it is REAL AND BEATIFUL BABY WE DO ART FOR THE POWER!
Worcester “is not from here. He’s from the east coast,” said the sheriff. An officer initially asked if Worcester had weapons on him. He said he did and handed it over to the officer, the sheriff said. When officers were about to take Worcester into custody, that’s when he “became violent,” said the sheriff.
The sheriff said Worcester “started to fight.”
2. A Woman Is Making Accusations Against Levi White
A woman named Tammy Parker has written a lengthy series of accusations against Deputy White on Facebook. They are unrelated to the Worcester incident.
She wrote:
My name is Tammy Nelson and the officer in the video today his name is Levi White he assaulted me Sunday morning due to a civil matter he chose not to make contact to the police department he chose that on his own did not tell me that he was arrested me and attacked me choked me need me threw me to the ground and I was in my down with nothing underneath my gown came up past my waist and he got on top of me as I laid there half naked on the ground in this video you will see a short picture of him attacking me before he grabs the phone and throws it to the ground but yet it stays on audio my ex is standing to the side I am trying to tell him to let this man know that I had surgery on my face and he was trying to slam my face into the ground which I was able to turn my head sideways I was arrested my truck was towed and I was taken to jail I was held in Crawford county for at least four or five hours before I was even booked as soon as I booked I was out in 20 minutes Monday I went back to Crawford county to talk to damani about getting my truck back because they basically stole it my truck was released back to me Monday did not cost me nothing they were trying to charge me on my $400 the officer had taken my phone into custody for evidence that was released back to me Tuesday when I told damani what had happened that Monday morning he did not know anything about the officer even putting his hands on me after I began to explain to him what he did he told me I was resisting I asked him if his body cam showed that or if his dash cam showed that sheriff damani said they don’t have those a it will show the officer coming up to me grab me by my right arm he grab my phone threw it to the ground swung me around through his arm around my neck and lifted me up off my feet choking me which you can hear in the video he did not know that the audio continue to record so in this audio you might have to put in some headsets to hear the last part after I was put into the police car and the officer chose not to tell me what I was being arrested for I want to thank the citizen that had the nerve enough to step up and record Crawford county for their dirty crooked ways I will be taking this the supreme Court and the governor and I’m sorry for what happened maybe if they did their job last Sunday when he assaulted me and suspended him like they should have this probably never would have happened again so sheriff damani did not hold nobody accountable for what they did to me Sunday
The Sheriff’s Department has not commented on these allegations. A lawyer for Worcester also has accused White of a previous use-of-force complaint.
Crawford County victim has good representation (seen here).
They’re trying to get him out today/or at least transferred.
-Ms Jernigan (L) mentions “almost identical” excessive force complaint from July re officer Levi White against another of her clients.
Worcester has been booked in the jail. According to Crawford County jail records, he is being held on these charges: Battery in the second degree, assault in the first degree, resisting arrest, possessing an instrument of crime, criminal trespass, criminal mischief in the second degree, terroristic threatening in the first degree, and assault in the second degree.
Jail recordsRandal Worcester
He is 5 foot 11 inches tall and weighs 145 pounds, according to jail records. He is being held on $15,000 bail, the jail records said. He was booked into the jail on the afternoon of August 21, 2022.
The incident occurred at the Kountry Xpress in Mulberry, Arkansas.
3. The Sheriff Says, ‘I Hold All My Employees Accountable’
The Crawford County Sheriff’s Department wrote on Facebook, “In reference to the video circulating social media involving two Crawford County Deputies, we have requested that Arkansas State Police conduct the investigation and the Deputies have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. I hold all my employees accountable for their actions and will take appropriate measures in this matter.”
According to USA Today, police accuse Worcester of “making threats to a convenience store employee in Mulberry, Arkansas, on Sunday morning” August 21, 2022. He was taken to the hospital but then booked in the jail, USA Today reported.
4. Worcester Is Accused of Spitting on the Convenience Store Manager
According to TVH11, Worcester is accused of spitting on the convenience store manager before threatening to “cut off their face.”
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson weighed in on Twitter as the video went viral.
“I have spoken with Col. Bill Bryant of the Arkansas State Police and the local arrest incident in Crawford County will be investigated pursuant to the video evidence and the request of the prosecuting attorney,” he wrote.
5. The Arkansas State Police Are Investigating the Incident, Mulberry Police Say
Mulberry City Limits wrote on Facebook,
The City of Mulberry Police Department is aware of the video circulating on social media involving one of our officers. The Arkansas State Police have been asked to investigate the incident. The officer is on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. The City of Mulberry and the Mulberry Police Department takes these investigations very seriously and holds all their officers accountable for their actions. We will take the appropriate actions at the conclusion of the investigation.
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