NEW ORLEANS — New cellphone video published by TMZ shows Los Angeles police officers tasing Pelicans center Jaxson Hayes while he's on the ground outside his girlfriend's Los Angeles home.
The arrest took place last week after officers responded to a domestic dispute at the house.
In the video, the person holding the camera identifies himself as a friend of Hayes and tells the officers that he saw him choking.
"Stop! Get your hands off him now. I've seen him choking," the unidentified man says.
Seconds later, an officers tases Hayes in the chest.
According to the man shooting the video, police came to the house and when Hayes told them they couldn't go inside, the struggle began.
While he's narrating, an LAPD officer approaches the man and tells him to back off or "you'll end up like him," referring to Hayes, who had just been tased.
The video ends when two more officer approach and appear to push the camera away.
LAPD put out a statement on the arrest last week claiming that Hayes pushed one of their officers into a wall, starting the violent encounter.
Hayes and an officer were taken to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries after the arrest.
LAPD said they're investigating whether officers applied force to Hayes' neck during the arrest. There is body camera video of the arrest, but that footage will not become public until at least 45 days after the incident.
The Pelicans released a statement last week saying they were aware of Hayes' arrest and are looking into the encounter.
Hayes was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2019 draft. So far, he's spent his NBA career as the Pelicans backup center, but showed flashes of his potential at the end of the 2020 NBA season.
