COLUMBUS, Ohio (10TV) - A video shot by a Columbus man of a SWAT situation has gone viral.
The incident happened back on April 24. Columbus SWAT officers responded to a home on Midland Avenue with a search warrant.
"We [were] there looking for fully automatic weapons," said Lt. Paul Ohl, Columbus Police Department. "There was also a nexus between that location and a gang - a criminal street gang."
Nicholas Petitt lives across the street from where officers responded. He pulled out his phone to record what was happening from his porch.
The video shows three people coming out of the home where officers responded. At one point, it appears an officer hits one of the people from the home on the face. Petitt yelled out to the officers.
"You ain't supposed to smack him like that," Petitt is heard saying on the video.
The officers and Petitt keep yelling back and forth. They can be heard on the video asking Petitt to go inside his home, but he says no. Petitt expressed it was his right to continue taking the video from his property. Eventually, the officers approach Petitt and there is a struggle.
"They were trying to take Mr. Petitt into custody. Mr. Petitt began to struggle - refused to put his hands behind his back. One officer is heard telling him to drop the phone - or give me the phone - Mr. Petitt wouldn't separate from the phone to be handcuffed," Ohl said.
Petitt said he was roughed up during that struggle.
"Knocked the phone out of my hand. Slammed me against the wall. The two officers who had me slammed me to the ground," he said.
Petitt was arrested. He had a warrant out on other charges. Police ended up charging him with misconduct at an emergency in relation to the incident. Police took his phone as evidence. He didn't get it back until months later. At that point, he posted the video on social media.
"Thinking back on it, I probably shouldn't have been as aggressive in stating what I said, but it was one of those things where I've seen stuff like that happen in the past. I've witnessed it happening to neighbors, friends, family. At what point do you start holding people accountable for their actions," Petitt said.
Columbus police launched an internal affairs investigation after learning of the video. 10TV asked them about the officer seen on-camera appearing to hit someone across the face.
"The officer reached out with his left hand and there was contact with the subject, the occupant who was exiting. I guess it would be the left side of his face," Ohl said. "There was no sign of any harm to that individual. There was no complaint of any injury from that individual."
Ohl confirmed the supervisor of the officer involved talked with him after the incident. He said they took into account the officer "has no disciplinary record."
"Did not feel that led to what we would consider a use of force and told him there was probably a better-trained technique to use in that circumstance so that the optics wouldn't be as bad as if he struck the individual," Ohl said.
In terms of Petitt's arrest, Ohl said he was distracting officers from what could have been a dangerous situation. 10TV asked if police believe they did the right thing in the situation by confronting Petitt.
"We probably should have let that go even though it was distracting," Ohl said. "We need to maintain focus on the mission because we are looking at a very hazardous structure. So legally, was anything done wrong? I look at it more was something tactically done wrong at that point that could have harmed somebody in real-time at that incident."
Petitt is due in court in October. He said he will fight the charge. He admits he has felonies on his record and has done wrong in the past. However, he does not believe he did wrong in this situation. Instead, he thinks the officer whose actions prompted him to yell out in the video should face repercussions.
"And there's nothing happening to him," Petitt said. "I'm trying to stand up for somebody who can't stand up for themselves at the moment and I get in trouble."
Police and Petitt disagree on whether he ever stepped foot off his porch and onto his lawn. The video only shows Petitt on his porch. Police said there was about one minute of interaction he did not record. Petitt said that is not true.