LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles police officer briefly pressed a knee to the neck of NBA player Jaxson Hayes as the New Orleans Pelicans center gasped “I can’t breathe.” That’s according to a body camera video released yesterday that shows Hayes being tasered in the July 28 incident after he was suppressed by an officer’s knee.
The officers went to Hayes’ home in the Woodland Hills neighborhood after his girlfriend’s cousin called 911. The cousin said Hayes’ girlfriend was sending her text messages saying he had become loud and violent and she was scared.
The unarmed Hayes became argumentative after officers said he couldn’t go back into his home. He ignored requests from his girlfriend and his cousin to stop talking and struggling with the police as they tried to subdue him.
The 21-year-old ultimately was booked into jail on accusations of resisting arrest after he was evaluated at a hospital for minor injuries.
