Kansas City, Kansas police are investigating a videotaped encounter showing a man being held down by multiple officers at a Walmart superstore on Thursday.
Christopher Enloe, uncle of the man in the video posted on TikTok, said his nephew had gone to the store to buy food for his family. He said his nephew was accused of stealing pizza and was approached by officers.
The Kansas City Kansas Police Department said the incident is under review to determine if the three officers involved complied with policy.
Police said the review of the incident began before the video, which was recorded by Enloe and verified by NBC News, was shared online.
Enloe said she called her 24-year-old nephew to bring her gas after her vehicle broke down in front of the Walmart. After her niece left, Enloe said she realized the vehicle still wouldn’t start and asked her niece to come back with jumper cables.
His nephew went inside to get food while Enloe waited for his vehicle to start, he said.
Less than 10 minutes later, a woman went to Enloe’s car and told her that officers were accosting her nephew, according to Enloe.
Enloe said her nephew told her a police officer had asked if she had a receipt for her purchase and after she said yes, he kept walking away. In the video, people standing up can be heard telling officers that the man had a receipt and that he had been standing next to them in line to pay.
The officer then ran up, grabbed his nephew by the neck and threw him into a vending machine, the nephew said according to Enloe. The video shows the interaction after the nephew is already on the ground and is restrained by an officer.
A second officer approaches to try to put the nephew’s hands behind his back and appears to kneel on the nephew’s neck, video shows.
Enloe can be heard telling the man on the ground, who is yelling at officers, to «stop» and comply with officers, according to the video.
Enloe has said that his nephew is innocent and that the police did not have just cause for their actions.
«As far as the police force is concerned, they find us guilty and we have to prove our innocence before they have to prove us guilty,» he said.
In a statement, the police department said officers will be «responsible based on the outcome of the investigation.»
«THE KCKPD expects all officers to follow all policies, procedures, and the law when interacting with the public,» police said.
Walmart said it would not comment until police release their report on the incident.
Police did not immediately respond to a request for information about possible charges.
christian santana contributed.