Body camera video released Friday by the Los Angeles Police Department shows the moments leading up to the arrest of NBA player Jaxson Hayes following a domestic dispute.
Officers arrived at the New Orleans Pelicans player’s home in the Woodland Hills neighborhood around 3 a.m. on July 28. Police responded to the house in the 22000 block of Mariano Street after receiving a 911 call that Hayes had been fighting with his girlfriend. The woman’s cousin made the call saying, “I got some disturbing text messages from my cousin, asking if I can get the police there, that her boyfriend is getting loud and violent.”
Related Story: LAPD Opens Excessive Force Investigation into Jaxson Hayes Arrest
The edited video, which includes the 911 call, shows Hayes standing in the driveway of the home and calmly speaking with officers when they arrive.
“Are you Jaxson?” one officer asks. “Yeah. What’s going on?” Hayes responds.
“What’s going on between you and your girl?” the officer asks. “We were just having a little argument. She was throwing some stuff at me,” Hayes responds.
Officers ask Hayes if his girlfriend is in the house. “Yeah. My cousin Phillip and my girlfriend’s in there,” Hayes says.
The cousin walks out and says, “Everything’s settled. It’s good.” But the officers say they have to talk to the girlfriend before they leave. They tell Hayes and his cousin to wait outside. Instead, Hayes walks toward the house with the officers and asks, “I can’t go in my own house?”
The NBA player tells officers, “You need a warrant.” An officer responds, “You’re mistaken. Step back please.” Hayes becomes upset. His cousin tries to restrain him as two officers block Hayes from entering the home.
One officer yells, “Hey. Back up!” Hayes continues to try to enter the house as his cousin tries to hold him back. The officers grabs Hayes’ arms.
“No. Don’t touch him, don’t touch him!” the cousin says. The situation quickly escalates. Hayes’ cousin yells “Jaxson, stop!” as he scuffles with the officers. The girlfriend comes outside and screams “what are you doing?”
An officer is then heard on a radio requesting backup. Hayes, 21, shoves one officer into a wall outside the front door. Another officer pulls out a Taser as Hayes is tackled to the ground.
“I’m gonna tase you! Stop! Stop Resisting!” an officer yells. Hayes continues to struggle.
Another officer briefly presses a knee into the New Orleans Pelicans center’s neck as he gasps: “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”
Two officers struggle to hold Hayes’ arms down and restrain him, while another officer presses the Taser into Hayes’ chest and deploys it. Hayes screams out in pain and cries out, “Stop. Stop. Stop.”
An officer yells “stop resisting!” Hayes responds, “I’m stopping bro.” Hayes is then shown on his stomach as officers place handcuffs on his arms behind his back.
As previously reported, Hayes and one officer were treated at a local hospital and released. The woman at the location declined to cooperate with police. After being medically cleared, Hayes was booked for resisting arrest. Per online inmate records, he was released two and a half hours later after posting $25,000 bond.
Hayes, who is 6-foot-11 and 220 pounds, was drafted into the NBA in 2019.
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