MESA, AZ — Mesa police will give additional training to two officers who handcuffed a man who had called 911 for help to return his young daughter.
On August 6, Darnay Cockrell reported this ex-girlfriend showed up at his apartment to visit with her child but then took off with the child without permission.
A witness’s video of the police encounter was posted on Instagram. The video shows Cockrell standing with two officers in the parking lot of the complex. The officers use takedown maneuvers to put Cockrell face-down on the ground and handcuff him. The officers don’t explain what they are doing, nor whether he’s being detained or arrested.
Cockrell, who said he has bad knees and a recent shoulder surgery, begs them to stop.
“Just put my hands man,” Cockrell says on the video. ”I'm not going to the ground here.”
While he’s still standing, Cockrell puts his hands together behind his back.
“Here, here, just put my hands, so we just stop, please would you stop?” Cockrell says on the video.
“It makes me feel less than a person,” Cockrell said during a Zoom call with ABC15 on Monday. “What do you expect the next time - for me to call the police? I won't do that no more in my lifetime.”
The Mesa Police Department, which has yet to release their officers’ body cam video publicly, allowed ABC15 reporter Melissa Blasius to view an unredacted version of the handcuffing incident this week.
The handcuffing happened several minutes after the officers’ arrival. The first responding officer approached as Cockrell came quickly down the stairs from his apartment looking for his daughter and the mother. Both men make physical contact as the officer tries to stop Cockrell and tell him they found the woman.
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The officer asked Cockrell to sit down several times, but Cockrell either ignored or refused the request.
Mesa PD, in a written statement, explained the reason for the handcuffing. According to the department, Cockrell had a “high level of emotion, which is understandable; however, because emotions were so high, he was not following reasonable directions given to him by the officer and made comments that spiked concern for officer safety.”
Police told ABC15 Cockrell was detained, and he was not arrested nor suspected of any crime. He was later unhandcuffed and his daughter was returned to him.
Officers said the girl's mother was arrested.
Cockrell filed a complaint with the Mesa Police Department. The department told ABC15 that the first responding officer was recently out of the police academy and only had two months on solo patrol duty. The department did not find any policy violations, but officials said both officers involved in the handcuffing will receive additional training.
After the video of Cockrell’s police encounter circulated on social media, he said he was laid off from his job. A GoFundMe account has been created for him.
Have a news tip? Email at melissa.blasius@abc15.com or call 602-803-2506. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @MelissaBlasius or Facebook.
