PALMER — Palmer police say they are investigating a police encounter caught on video at the Alaska State Fair on Sunday evening, during which three officers appear to place a man in a chokehold while he is holding a young child, tackle him to the ground, punch him, and use a Taser on his back for about 30 seconds as onlookers yelled for them to stop.
A bystander captured the video and published it on TikTok.
“The Palmer Police Department is aware of the incident/complaints from the Alaska State Fair last evening. The administration will be conducting a review of all the information/videos/eyewitness reports regarding the incident,” the department said in a statement published Monday evening.
"As with all incidents where force is used, the officer's actions are being reviewed per policy," Palmer Police Cmdr. Luke Szipszky said in a statement Tuesday morning.
Palmer Police identified the man as Jeffry K.R. Cook-Reed, age 22 of Palmer. He was arrested following the incident Sunday on a warrant of Failure to Appear on a charge of Assault in the 4th Degree, Szipszky said in a statement Tuesday. The warrant was issued Aug. 11, according to court records.
The incident occurred on the Miners Loop Purple Trail. The officers shown in the video are Officer Rachel Moyer, Officer Ryan Ogden and Sgt. Perry Morgan, Szipszky said.
The video posted to TikTok and widely shared on social media Monday shows Ogden and Moyer confronting an unidentified woman and a man now identified by police as Cook-Reed.
Cook-Reed is holding a young child and wearing a Wiz Khalifa T-shirt. The woman walks away, but when Cook-Reed attempts to do the same, officers stop him.
The situation escalates quickly as officers take hold of Cook-Reed's arms. Morgan approaches from behind and appears to place him in a chokehold as Moyer pulls the screaming child from his arms.
Ogden and Morgan fall to the ground on top of the Cook-Reed and a section of black barrier fencing. Morgan appears to maintain the chokehold while Ogden appears to punch Cook-Reed several times in the side. An unidentified State Fair security employee wearing a jacket labeled “supervisor” blocks crowd members, stands on Cook-Reed's ankles, and then appears to lean on him as he is on the ground.
Cook-Reed shouts something unintelligible in the video as Morgan tells him, “Roll over, roll over,” and Ogden removes a Taser from his belt. Members of the public can be heard shouting “what the f-—.”
The video then shows Ogden apparently using the Taser repeatedly on Cook-Reed's back for about 30 seconds, including after his hands appear to be restrained. Cook-Reed can be heard saying, “I just want my kid,” “ow, ow,” “police brutality,” “dude, what the f—,” and “let go of me.”
The video ends with the officers holding Cook-Reed on the ground with his arms restrained.
-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com
This story was updated Aug. 26 to include an additional statement from Palmer Police, the identities of the police officers, and the identity of the man shown in the video.
