By Jim Mustian
The Advocate, Baton Rouge
HARVEY, La. — Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand has asked federal authorities to investigate whether officers used excessive force in their arrest of the young man accused of fatally shooting Deputy David F. Michel Jr.
The sheriff told WWL-TV that he asked the FBI this week “to join with us in a joint investigation” of the injuries the alleged gunman received as he was being taken into custody Wednesday less than a mile from the scene of the shooting in Harvey.
Normand, at a Friday press conference, said he would not comment on a cellphone video that showed Neveaux’s arrest, deferring to the FBI. When asked why officers do not wear body cameras, he said the technology would create too much data to store, be too expensive.
“We could ‘woulda-coulda-shoulda’ this to death,” said Normand.
The suspect, Jerman Neveaux, 19, was hospitalized with an orbital fracture following his arrest. A cellphone video obtained by WVUE-TV showed officers surrounding Neveaux and striking him in a backyard.
Normand revealed friday that Neveaux had admitted the gun used in the shooting was stolen. He also added that Neveaux grabbed Michel by the hair after firing initial shot, and by the neck as Michel attempted to crawl away.
“It is clearly obvious that this was a cold-blooded murder, and even more so in a descriptive way as Deputy Michel attempted to crawl away,” Normand said.
Michel was gunned down outside the Dunkin’ Donuts on Manhattan Boulevard near the intersection of Ascot Road. Authorities have said the deputy had stopped Neveaux under the suspicion that he was following someone. The deputy, who was wearing street clothes, was attempting a search of Neveaux’s person when Neveaux turned around and opened fire on the deputy, Normand has said.
Neveaux was taken into custody following a manhunt in Harvey that involved a police helicopter. The sheriff has said he was still armed at the time and was resisting arrest.
“We knew he was armed, and they were telling (him) to show us your hands,” Normand said, adding Neveaux later “attempted to remove himself from our custody.”
Col. John Fortunato, a Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said the agency has begun a criminal investigation into the arrest.
An FBI spokesman declined to comment Friday.
Neveaux’s family has expressed concern about the arrest, saying it appeared from the video that officers struck Neveaux several times. But Joseph Giacalone, a former New York City police detective and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said he did not see any excessive force being used in the video.
“You have somebody who’s clearly resisting arrest,” Giacalone said in a telephone interview. “The general public doesn’t understand, when somebody doesn’t want to get handcuffed, it’s next to impossible to get somebody handcuffed unless you use some sort of physical force to do it. That’s exactly what was happening here.”
Gary Bizal, a civil rights lawyer, said the incident highlights the need for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office to implement body-worn cameras, a technology used by New Orleans police. “Without knowing anything that happened, this is a great example of where a body camera on the officers would eliminate any question as to what occurred,” Bizal said.
Copyright 2016 The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.