West metro police officers face possible charges in use of force against man who suffered medical emergency

Prosecutors are reviewing possible charges against a pair of west metro law enforcement officers after the rough arrest of a man who was then hospitalized for a medical emergency, according to documents filed in Hennepin County District Court.

Body camera footage shows the officers, whose department is not identified, cornering a man who had allegedly assaulted a law enforcement officer earlier in the day, dragging him out of his vehicle, then punching him and shocking him with a Taser, according to a sworn search warrant affidavit by a Dakota County sheriff's deputy who is investigating the case.

The document has been redacted to conceal participants' names and many details about the incident.

Although it doesn't mention which police department the officers belong to, the fact that it was filed in Hennepin County suggests that the agency is in the west metro area.

To avoid a conflict of interest, the case was turned over to the St. Paul City Attorney's Office, which is weighing possible misdemeanor charges against the two officers.

The case comes at a time of heightened public scrutiny of police use of force, particularly against African Americans.

At least one of the officers present was wearing a body camera, which captured the incident in full.

They converged on the vehicle and ordered the man to come out with his hands up.

Instead, the affidavit said, the man appeared to try to drive away, prompting officers to break his vehicle's window and grab him.

As the man continued to resist, officers shot him with a Taser and pulled him out of the vehicle, the document said. He continued to resist as officers dragged him to the ground, ignoring officers' commands to put his hands behind his back.

After an unspecified use of force, the details of which were redacted in the affidavit, officers gained control of the man and handcuffed him.

It was then that the suspect suffered some sort of medical emergency, the affidavit said.

At some point before the man was taken to the hospital, the second police officer who is under investigation is said to have come up to the handcuffed man, bent down and whispered something in his ear, the affidavit said.

The extent of the suspect's injuries are not known.