THE THIN BLUE LINE
Le’Keian Woods’ arrest on Friday was caught on video by a bystander showing multiple Jacksonville officers standing and kneeling over him. At one point, an officer picks Woods up and slams him onto the grass.
Moments later, officers lifted Woods up, revealing bruises and blood across his face. Woods’ family accused the officers of punching him during the incident, causing his facial injuries, although this isn’t shown in the arrest video.
The family told First Coast News that Woods, his uncle and his friend were pulled over for not wearing their seatbelts as they were on their way to Woods’ grandmother’s house.
Family attorney Harry Daniels told the Associated Press on Sunday that following Woods’ arrest, he was taken to hospital where he was treated for a severe concussion. In a statement the day before, Daniels said Woods was lucky to still be alive.
“When I look at that picture of my son, I felt like Emmett Till’s mother when she seen her son,” Woods’ mother, Natassia Woods, said. “He was unrecognizable.”
She also expressed her shock at the officers’ actions depicted in the footage. “I saw them kick my son and slam his face on the ground,” she said. “I could not believe they would do that to a person because if you kick a dog or do something to an animal, you’re going down. So it’s OK to beat a human down like that?”
Online records show that Woods was being held in custody on Sunday on charges of armed traffic of methamphetamine, armed traffic of cocaine, armed possession of a controlled substance, resisting an officer with violence and violation of probation, among other charges. 2 of the 6 charges were tossed by a judge. Bail is $170,000.
Woods is also charged with two counts of violating probation and there is a hold from Leon County in connection to a 2018 homicide.
He previously faced a second-degree murder charge in an attempted robbery during a drug deal in a Tallahassee apartment complex where his roommate was shot to death.
