Two weeks after Kentucky doctor David Dao was bloodied and dragged off a United Airlines flight, the Los Angeles Times and other publications have obtained police reports from the incident.
Compared to footage from the scene, the reports appear to contradict the viral videos.
According to the reports released Monday, which were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and name the officers involved, police allege that during the April 9 incident Dao was “aggressive” and reacted toward the officers “violently.”
One of the reports, filed by officer Mauricio Rodriguez Jr., say another officer, James Long, attempted to “assist” Dao from his seat, but lost grip in one hand after Dao “started flailing his arms and started to fight.” Rodriguez Jr. then wrote that Long lost control of Dao, which resulted in Dao falling and hitting his mouth on the armrest. In a statement, Rodriguez Jr. wrote that Long used “minimal but necessary force.”
A statement from Long reads that Dao, “was limp so the subject [Dao] was laid on the floor.”
The report and statements directly contradict videos of the incident, which show Dao hitting his head on an arm rest after an officer yanks him from his row of seats, then dragging him down the aisle toward the front of the plane. Thomas Demetrio, the personal injury lawyer representing Dao, said the reports were “utter nonsense.”
H/T TIME
