Jacksonville arrest suspect in viral beating video is transferred to Tallahassee
Le'Keian Woods, the man at the center of a viral Jacksonville arrest video that shows him being beaten by police with a bloody, swollen face, has been taken to the Leon County jail for an outstanding warrant on a charge of violating probation, according to an arrest affidavit.
Woods, 24, is in custody in Tallahassee on a robbery by sudden snatching charge in a previous, unrelated case with no bond set. Woods was on felony probation at the time of his Jacksonville arrest and was previously charged with second-degree murder after his roommate was shot during a drug robbery in Tallahassee. However, Woods pleaded down to robbery charges and was never tried for murder. He was transferred back to Leon County on Wednesday.
Tuesday night his family rallied outside Jacksonville City Hall and addressed City Council members inside chambers, speaking out against police brutality.
Woods was arrested on Aug. 29 in Jacksonville after he ran from police who followed the truck he was in during suspected drug activity. The other two men in the truck complied, but police body camera video shows Woods darting off. He was chased and felled by an officer's taser and then punched, elbowed and kneed by three officers at least 17 times in the face and body while trying to handcuff him while not complying, according to an arrest report.
Woods' mother, Natassia Woods, said Tuesday that her son is still in pain with bruises and swelling along his face.
“I just want justice for my son," she said. "I want the officers held accountable."
The Sheriff's Office said Woods was violently resisting arrest and that officers thought he was armed. A gun was not on Woods at the time he was arrested, but one of the other men in the truck surrendered a handgun at the scene.
Woods’ family believes after he was incapacitated with the taser, he was not resisting.
"In the process of him being tased, he still was trying to give the officers his arm. They saw that he was not resisting. They used extreme deadly force on my son," Woods said.
The attorney for Natassia Woods also believes the officers treated him violently due to his past.
The use of force during Woods' arrest is under investigation, but Sheriff T.K. Waters has publicly stated he believes the officers acted accordingly and within policy.
Natassia Woods and her attorneys are asking for the officers to be fired and for the Sheriff's Office gang task force to be dissolved.
“JSO needs to re-examine their use of force policy. Anything that gives justification for officers kneeing an individual in the head several times in order to gain compliance, the use of deadly force when someone poses no threat, needs to be re-examined," Broderick Taylor, an attorney representing the family said.
Natassia Woods also spoke at Tuesday's City Council meeting, asking for help with addressing her son's health and confinement in jail.
"He was brutally beaten last week and he hasn't been able to get any medical treatment within JSO custody," Woods said. "They have him in solitary confinement for 23 hours out [of] the day, it's hard right now, he's my only child. He's not doing [well]. So, I'm trying to see if I can get some help from Congress or City Council or anybody who can help me get justice for my son."
After she addressed members, City Council President Rob Salem invited Woods' mother to a private meeting with Councilman Jimmy Peluso.
First Coast News reached out for an update into the investigation, but the Sheriff's Office cannot comment due to the pending litigation.
Natassia Woods’ attorneys have asked the Department of Justice to investigate the arrest.
This story first appeared on Times-Union news partner First Coast News.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Viral beating arrest video suspect is moved from Jacksonville jail
