TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo's Police Chief George Kral spoke out Tuesday for the first time about a viral traffic stop that was caught on camera and has sparked mixed reactions in the community.
The chief discussed the officers' response, policy within the department and training.
The video shows two siblings getting arrested and forcefully restrained by police.
Kral said he doesn't think the officers' conduct was a violation of conduct.
The traffic stop that took place on Lagrange Street and Manhattan Boulevard was anything but routine. The department released video from two different angles that showed how the incident unfolded.
*Editor's note: The dashcam video includes explicit language.
Gang task force units were proactively patrolling the area and pulled off the driver for a window tint violation. Later, detectives discovered he had a suspended license and weed.
All offenses would typically lead to the car being towed and a citation issued rather than an arrest.
"You're right, this was going to be a citation-able stop. Until that sister came in and did what she did", Kral said.
The woman he is referring to is 21-year-old Jannah Wyley, the twin sister of the passenger, Jabril Wyley.
"I counted myself – the officer told her 11 times to stay away. Honestly, none of this would have happened if she would have stayed on the side of the road, video taped - if you watch it – that's fine, we have no problem with that. But she continued to interject herself into the investigation and that's what made this happen, the way it did," Kral said.
Officers eventually charged Jannah Wyley with assault on a police officer and claimed she attacked an officer while being arrested.
WTOL asked Kral when the supposed attack happened.
"You never see the attack happen in this video. The public is asking, 'When did it happen and where did it happen because they don't see it in the video,'" WTOL's anchor Andrew Kinsey said.
"Well, I disagree with your first part of that, you don't see her punching the officer because of the gaps in the video, and them being off the dash camera. But you do see very clearly her jump in between those two officers – trying to stop them from putting handcuffs on her brother. That's what precipitated this," Kral said.
The mothers of the twins said what the the video captured is a clear sign of excessive force.
"It was definitely a clear sign of excessive force on a 112-pound girl that has her hands behind her back, you can see it in the video. He holding her neck down, she screaming, he punching her in the face," Dauleita Wyley said.
"There is no way you can tell from any video if they were punched with a closed fist or an open hand. I know what it appears to look like. But we are trained to do open hand stunts," Kral said.
The chief claimed the two were resisting arrest and his officers were using techniques they learned in the academy to gain control.
"They used the amount of force they felt was necessary to affect the arrest. Anytime there is a use of force, it looks bad. Show me a fight that looks good. The last thing that we want is to use any kind of force on people. Unless this is another video out there that contradicts what I know so far – I don't think these officers used excessive force," Kral said.
An investigation into the incident is underway. The detectives involved in the stop are still on the job and the Wyley family has hired legal counsel to represent them.
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