2 Lawrence officers placed on administrative leave following controversial use of force arrest

LAWRENCE, Ind. — Two Lawrence police officers involved in a controversial use of force arrest have been placed on administrative leave as the investigation continues.

The altercation stemmed from what should have been a minor traffic infraction. On Tuesday afternoon, Officer Roberto Santiago pulled up behind William Armstrong in the Walmart parking lot off Pendleton Pike.

Armstrong was illegally parked in a fire lane.

Officer Santiago wrote in a sworn affidavit that Armstrong, “Aggressively approached him with his fist balled up.”

That is not shown on dash cam footage. Instead, the very first interaction seen on Santiago’s body camera went like this.

“Stop walking up on me, matter of fact,” said Santiago.

“Bro, what you mean walking up on you bro?” replied Armstrong.

After a few seconds, Santiago asked for Armstrong’s ID, which he refused to provide.

Santiago then repeatedly wrote in his affidavit that Armstrong became “hostile and argumentative.”  That description is debatable based on the video.

“Stay right there,” said Santiago.

“Alright, alright cool,” said Armstrong. 

“I know it’s cool,” replied Santiago.

After returning to his squad car to ask for backup, Officer Santiago again approaches Armstrong, but none of what follows is included in Santiago’s affidavit.

First, Armstrong makes a veiled threat.

“Hey look, whenever you got your uniform off, holler at me then,” said Armstrong. “What’s that a threat? Was that a threat? Say that one more time.”

For nearly 20 seconds the confrontation escalates.

“Say it again. Why don’t you want to repeat yourself?  You scared?” taunted Santiago. 

Eventually, Officer Santiago began a profane rant that is not described in his court records of the incident.

“Let me chill out bro,” said Armstrong.

“Yeah, you chill out. Check yourself. Because I’m about to f*** your night up. I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m the mother***** that will f*** your night up,” said Santiago.

After Armstrong’s sister walks up, with tensions at a high point, Santiago then tries to physically detain Armstrong.

“Turn around,” said Santiago as he grabs Armstrong’s arm. “I’m not turning around,” replied Armstrong as the scuffle began.

The fight that follows is described in Santiago’s affidavit similar to how to played on video.

Armstrong appears to punch both officer Santiago and officer Morgan Lowe. During the scuffle court records describe how Armstrong, “proceeded to hip toss officer Santiago to the ground.”

Santiago then writes, “he administered several closed fist punch strikes.”

At least 10 punches are visible on the dash cam, with Officer Lowe deploying a taser and adding a couple of kicks.

FOX59/CBS4 asked several independent parties knowledgeable about law enforcement training to analyze the video to see if proper de-escalation tactics were employed, but all of the requests were denied.

The Indiana Law Enforcement Academy defines de-escalation as, “Actions taken in an attempt to stabilize the situation in an effort to reduce or eliminate the necessity of using force against subjects.”

After being handcuffed, a clearly irate Armstrong made several threatening comments to Santiago as other officers tried to calm the situation.

Armstrong spent less than 48 hours in jail before being released without charges.

Lawrence police chief Curtis Bigsbee said the department continues to gather evidence and investigate what happened.