Body cam released: Glynn County Police investigating circumstances surrounding viral arrest video

GLYNN COUNTY, Fla — Glynn County Police are currently investigating a sequence of events surrounding a viral video posted on social media Thursday afternoon.

The video shows a physical fight between a mentally ill man and a Glynn County Police Department officer at the intersection of Altama Avenue and the Altama Connector.

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The GCPD officer was at a nearby location and went to the scene after two women reported concerns about a man wearing camouflage and “something red on his head” at the intersection.

Reports state that the women told the officer they were concerned because the man was yelling and cursing while in the roadway.

Upon the officer’s arrival, the officer approached the man who was standing dangerously close to the roadway. With his hand behind his back, the man approached the officer while in the roadway despite the officer telling the man to stay on the sidewalk.

The man came within a foot of the officer, which caused the officer to have to extend his arm to create distance between the two of them. The officer attempted to have the man move out of the roadway and out of harm’s way to the sidewalk while also attempting to determine if the man needed assistance or may be impaired.

The officer attempted to de-escalate the situation by speaking calmly to the man to get him to comply, but his efforts were unsuccessful.

This led to a verbal confrontation with the man keeping his left hand behind his back and concealed from the officer. The officer was unable to retreat due to concerns over oncoming traffic; during this time the man kept his left hand concealed behind his back. The man then began to walk away from the officer; the officer then attempted to secure the man in order to prevent him from possibly walking into traffic.

After a brief struggle the two men released each other but the man continued to verbally confront the officer while the officer radioed for additional support to come to the scene. While doing this, the man grabbed the officer with his right hand, then the man released the officer and used his right hand to make a signal that the officer feared may be a signal for other people to come to his assistance and potentially overwhelm the officer.

At this point the officer again took hold of the man and ordered him to put his hands behind his back.

Despite this, the man resisted and again grabbed the officer who responded by taking the man to the ground. Once on the ground, the man hit the officer in the face and began reaching for items on the officer’s duty belt.

The officer continued his efforts to secure the man and keep the man’s hands away from the officer’s duty belt. The struggle continued in the roadway and at this time the officer deployed his Taser device. One of the Taser prongs struck the man but the second did not rendering the Taser ineffective; the physical struggle continued, and the officer was able to roll the man over on the ground.

At this time an off-duty officer from Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms arrived on scene and helped the GCPD officer secure and handcuff the man.

Once the man was secured, his mother arrived on the scene. She told officers that the man suffers from severe mental illness and officers learned that he had previously been charged with crimes related to obstruction and fighting with officers.

The man was transported to the Glynn County Detention Center where he reportedly became verbally aggressive, but did not become physically aggressive.

He was then released to the custody of jail staff. He now faces one felony charge of Obstruction or Hindering a Law Enforcement Officer.

Any person with additional knowledge of this incident is asked to contact Glynn County Police Department non-emergency at (912) 554-3645 or may report it anonymously via Silent Witness at (912) 264-1333.

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The Glynn County Police Department released the following statement Saturday afternoon:

GCPD thoroughly reviews all responses to resistance (use of force) incidents through multiple layers of supervision in order to ensure the amount of force used is reasonable and in accordance with agency policy. This incident with Officer Dustin Shipskie is currently under review and will consist of supervisory level and executive reviews.

To maintain transparency, accountability, and trust with the community we serve, the body-worn and in-car videos showing the encounter will be released once they are properly formatted to protect the identity of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents who came to assist Officer Shipskie. This is being addressed promptly with appropriate concerns for both the public interest in viewing the video along with ATF agents’ identification security concerns.

As for the status of Officer Shipskie: he remains on regular, full duty.

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