On Juneteenth weekend in Elyria, Ohio, body camera footage shows an officer placing his knee on the neck and upper back of a 15-year-old girl while she was already being handcuffed by other officers. A 39-year-old stranger named Marcus Dowdell, with no connection to the girl or her family, stepped in to help. He ended up in handcuffs, then in the Lorain County Jail, charged with assault on a peace officer. The officer whose conduct prompted the police chief himself to say, on the record, "I have concerns regarding the officer's actions" — is on paid administrative leave.

This episode goes through what's documented and what's genuinely disputed. Elyria Police Chief James Welsh and Mayor James Brubaker have both spoken publicly about the incident, with Brubaker directly invoking George Floyd's death. Attorney Alex Bodiford, who represents both Dowdell and the 15-year-old, has been blunt about the paid leave: "They're giving this guy a paid vacation. He's probably in Disney World as we speak." At the same time, a use-of-force expert who reviewed the footage raised a legitimate question about exactly how much pressure reached the girl's neck versus her upper back — a real point of dispute that fuller body camera footage could resolve, and hasn't yet.

What isn't in dispute: a stranger who tried to help a teenager is facing more serious legal jeopardy right now than the officer whose conduct a sitting police chief has already called concerning.

This is a developing story. We'll follow it as the investigation and Dowdell's case move forward.

00:00 - Disclaimer
01:01 - Introduction
02:34 - The Thesis
04:25 - Opening
06:38 - The Background
10:16 - The Data
13:27 - Personal Thoughts
17:05 - Closing

Afternoon Coffee Break with Darren Watts. Follow the show wherever you listen. Rate and review on Apple Podcasts — thirty seconds, it matters. Number 17 Cult All Time. Number 33 Business News All Time on Goodpods — because of you.