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Bodycam Videos Show Cops Tase Wrong Man Mistaken For Suspect

   05/07/2021  38 Comments on Bodycam Videos Show Cops Tase Wrong Man Mistaken For Suspect

** (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) **
A trio of Georgia cops tased and handcuffed a man—then realized they had the wrong guy. Patrick Mumford, 24, was sitting in a driveway the afternoon of Feb. 1 when officers with the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department approached him. Less than a minute later, they shot him twice with a stun gun. The police had a warrant for another man, Michael Clay, but immediately assumed they had their guy. Indeed, the lawmen believed Mumford was Clay, and that he was lying about his identity, a review of body camera footage shows.

Now Mumford’s fate is hanging in the balance because Savannah police mistook him for someone else. After the frightening encounter, Mumford was charged with violating probation—stemming from a nonviolent drug offense—and could spend up to seven years in jail, his attorney says. After Mumford was tased, the cops even argued with onlookers over whether he resembled their target suspect. “They look a lot—a good bit alike, ma’am. It’s not far off,” an officer tells a bystander in the footage.

The startling confrontation began seconds after cops came to the Savannah residence looking for Michael Clay, Mumford’s attorney Will Claiborne told The Daily Beast. “The problem is Patrick Mumford doesn’t look like Michael Clay, he ain’t Michael Clay, and they roll up on him like he is,” Claiborne said in a phone interview Thursday. “When he says his name is Patrick, they don’t believe him. “If they had had adequate training, they would have known not all black men look the same.”

Clairborne’s firm has released an edited version of the body cam video, which was obtained through an open-records request. The footage comes as the nation grapples with the recent deaths of two black men killed by police—Philando Castile of St. Paul, Minnesota, and Alton Sterling of Baton Rouge, Louisiana—and as Black Lives Matter protests nationwide are working to challenge law enforcement’s deadly use of force against black men and women. “I hope for the Savannah police department’s sake that this would be a teachable moment,” Claiborne told The Daily Beast. “It does add some context as to why folks can be fearful of law enforcement.”

Mumford sits in his car facing the police, his feet outside the vehicle and on the pavement. “I’m not getting up, man. Show me the warrant,” he says. But the cop has already started counting down. “Three, two… all right, tase him!” he orders. A terrified Mumford raises his leg in front of him, trying to shield himself from the stun gun. “Y’all ain’t let me know what’s going on,” Mumford says. Another officer pulls the taser trigger twice. According to Mumford’s attorney, only 38 seconds passed between the cops saying hello and ordering “All right, tase him!”

In October 2014, Mumford pleaded guilty to charges including misdemeanor marijuana possession and felony possession of a controlled substance, records show. As a first-time offender, he was not convicted and instead sentenced to probation. As a result of the police department’s mistake, Mumford could lose his job as a certified collision specialist. He may also be forced to drop out of college where he’s pursuing his associate’s degree, Claiborne said. Messages left with the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department were not returned as of Thursday evening. Still, arrest reports offer a glimpse into their actions.

Georgia cops were searching for Michael Bernard Clay, after getting a call from a California detective seeking to verify his Savannah residence. Clay had “turned in a phone that was involved in a robbery,” the report states. The Savannah officers also discovered Clay had an active warrant in Cobb County for simple assault, the document reveals. Police claim Mumford was given “numerous reasonable attempts to comply with officers, but he refused and still physically/actively resisted,” as the officer with the body camera noted in a police report reviewed by The Daily Beast.

He claims that Mumford “put his right foot up toward me as if he were going to kick me while I was aiming the Taser at him” and that Mumford “began to retreat back further into the vehicle as if he were reaching for a weapon.” His fellow officers echoed claims that Clay’s mother, who arrived on scene, allegedly admitted her son and Mumford looked alike, the report shows. “Mr. Clay’s mother stated that they looked very similar,” one officer recalled, “and she understood how all three of us not knowing either male could believe Mr. Patrick Mumford to be Mr. Michael Clay.”

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** (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) **

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38 thoughts on “Bodycam Videos Show Cops Tase Wrong Man Mistaken For Suspect”

  1. “Yeah we’re gonna taser the shit out of you & throw you on the ground because you look like someone, but I wanna sit you in the car cause that ‘thing’ hitting you in the back” ok haha

  6. I feel bad for him, but this is what happens if you stay in the hood while on parole and your look-alike neighbor did some stupid shit.
    Cops were to hot on the oatmeal there, should have made sure it was the right dude. He seemed to be the guy they could actually talk to as well and get the situation under control instead of forcing him to do put his hands behind his back and shit.
    Ahh well, what can you say, the dude got 100k out of this. Nothing to discuss, 100k for a harmless taze is a pretty good deal. Cops got to go hard, but if you're not sure it's not the right guy, chill the fuck down.

  8. Why let the cops just arrest you and sue them afterwards when you can resist and act like a little bitch instead because you're a ex-convict and think the police actually found out about some other crime you did and they didn't know about before.

  9. Cops: “You look exactly like the guy we’re looking for.”
    Patrick: “Let me guess, he’s male, black, black hair.”
    Cops: “Exactly.”

  12. Nasty 🤮 pigs 🐷 yes all of y’all was Disrespectful from the begging 😑 your lies all on cámara Thanks God Y’all almost kill a Innocent Young Man and you Never Ask for his ID Lies Lies Lies I’m Glad there is a Lawsuit and I Hope y’all all fired 😑✌🏻 Lord Save our kids and family’s from pigs likes this one Amen 🙏🏻

  13. These cops need to be tased and arrested and go through the same ordeal that this guy went through. Every American civilian should be body armored and armed just like the police. How does that sound?

  16. So this violated this mans probation and he was sentenced to jail?!?

    I hope he receives at least $250,000.

    This incident and the following circumstances was an abomination on several levels.

  22. all of this couldve been avoided because that dude knew he wasn't who they were looking for so all he had to do was just comply…cops are in the wrong regardless just pointing out the fucking obvious. JUST COMPLY

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