Crash & Arrest Little Rock City Director Ken Richardson - First unit's view | Narrative included

View from responding backup: https://youtu.be/sgNcM4h7KRg Narrative from Arkansas State Police: On Tuesday, August 2, 2022, I was in the area of Colonel Glenn Road and 36th Street, in Little Rock. At approximately 2105 hours, I observed a transformer blow on the south side of Colonel Glenn. Upon further investigation, I located a single vehicle accident near S. Bryant Street, directly in front of Ace and Kings Liquor. It appeared that the vehicle was initially traveling westbound on Colonel Glenn, before crossing both eastbound lanes and striking a power pole head on. When I arrived on scene, I did not activate my blue lights. Therefore, my camera and audio systems were not functional during the encounter. As I approached the vehicle and made contact with the driver, later identified as Kenneth Richardson, I observed no injuries. I told Mr. Richardson that I was a State Trooper and that I was there to help. I then tried multiple times to remove him from the car. The vehicle was smoking from the impact and was unsafe. I asked him approximately five times to get out of the car, each time I was ignored. When I attempted to pull him from the vehicle, he physically resisted and began grabbing the steering wheel. His speech was incoherent, and he was sweating profusely. He began reaching for objects that were not there, as if he was trying to grab something out of midair. After a few moments of struggling with Mr. Richardson, he did as I asked and stepped out of his car. I began holding his arm to stabilize him and to ensure he would not walk away. I asked him to sit down on the sidewalk, but I was ignored. Because he was involved in an accident, he was not free to leave. He was not allowed back in his car for the safety of passing motorists, as I did not want him to flee in a vehicle. As Little Rock Fire Department arrived on scene, Mr. Richardson became more combative. He tried to pull away and get back into his car. While trying to restrain him, he grabbed my leg just below the groin area and squeezed, this caused severe discomfort, forcing me to take control of the situation and place him under arrest. In order to achieve that, I physically placed Mr. Richardson on the ground. He landed on his back, with his head hanging over the curb. He continued to resist, as he was grabbing my hands and arms. After a few moments on the ground, I was able to gain control of Mr. Richardson and defuse the situation. After Mr. Richardson became compliant, I allowed him to stand up. MEMS arrived a few minutes later and asked him a series of questions. His speech was still incoherent, as he was unable to answer the questions. A short time later, MEMS transported Mr. Richardson to the hospital where a urine test was administered. The results of the test are pending. Based on my training and experience, I believe Mr. Richardson was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. His speech, body language, and mannerisms were consistent with that of an impaired motorist. I did not activate my emergency lights upon arrival as I was not using my patrol vehicle for traffic control, nor did I immediately realize that I would be making contact with the violator. Also, the crash occurred on a city street, and I anticipated that LRPD would be conducting the investigation. I believed my involvement with this situation would be minimal at best. Once I determined that a crash had occurred and made contact with Mr. Richardson, the situation evolved rapidly. At this point I was unable to activate my camera. The subsequent video on file that was retrieved from my unit, was done so by the “record after the fact” feature. This feature does not capture audio. Mr. Richardson was charged with the following: 5-13-203 Battery 3rd Degree, 5-54-103 Resisting Arrest, and 5-54-102 Obstructing Governmental Operations