(07-03) 08:48 PDT LITTLE ROCK, (AP) – A police officer who appeared to choke a skateboarder and put two others in a headlock in a video posted online used appropriate force when making his arrests, an internal police investigation found. The Hot Springs Police Department Internal Affairs Board found the use of force was within the police department’s policy on non-deadly force and recommended “no changes to this policy.” The decision was released Monday. Officer Joey Williams confronted a situation that “would have overwhelmed any single officer” when he stopped those breaking a Hot Springs city ordinance by skateboarding on a downtown sidewalk June 21, the report said. However, Williams was faulted for leaving a handcuffed suspect unattended while chasing another youth in the resort town’s historic Bathhouse Row. Williams has been on administrative leave since the video hit YouTube on June 25. Police said he would return to active duty Thursday in the city’s downtown. “I think it was fair,” City Manager Kent Myers said. Witnesses “consistently supported the actions of the officer and his efforts to control the situation.” Video from a business’ security cameras shows 10 skateboarders rolling down the city sidewalk at a good clip, followed by Williams, who sprints past the last skater. A video taken by skateboarders and later posted on YouTube shows Williams on top of one of the skaters, apparently choking him. The video also showed Williams putting another two skateboarders in a headlock, and the officer can later be heard threatening to use pepper spray on a skateboarder lying on the ground. Police said they arrested Matthew Jon McCormack, 21, and Skylar Nalls, 19, both of Hot Springs, and four juveniles. McCormack faces a misdemeanor battery charge accusing him of pushing or striking a 67-year-old city employee during the melee. Nalls was cited for skateboarding and faces misdemeanor charges of fleeing and obstructing governmental operations. McCormack has previously disputed many of the police allegations, especially his battery charge. He has said he pulled on the city employee’s arm after the man lifted a girl off her feet in a choke-hold. Hot Springs is a resort town about 50 miles west of Little Rock.

You mean a double-KO kind of situation? Actually, Boom, I can think of twice in the UFC. Hughes vs. Newton 1, Newton locked in a triangle choke from guard but didn't break Hughes's posture, so Hughes picked him up and slammed him. Newton was knocked out immediately, but Hughes also went sorta limp, either because he dropped head-first into the slam or because he'd gotten choked out, although Hughes kept going and was awarded the controversial win. There was also a TUF fight where one guy took a wicked body shot, doubled over, then straightened up to connect with a wild haymaker for the KO, and then collapsed himself. Although I can't think of another situation in the UFC particularly where both guys went down at exactly the same moment.

Double-KO slams aren't all that rare in MMA, particularly. I've seen them a few times in amateur events, and a bunch of times (not really KOs, maybe, but both guys getting totally stunned) in hard sparring and smoker matches with guys who were never taught how to perform a proper shot.

The standard double-leg takedown that is practiced in MMA is the wrestling, not judo, variety. Notice in the video how Yamamoto makes his penetration step with his lead leg, drives in to his knee, then brings his rear leg past that to pop up to his feet again, driving sideways with his head while blocking his opponent's far leg with his knee. This allows him to pick the guy up sideways, so his opponent can't pull his head down if he gets a guillotine-style headlock. This is called "turning the corner" in grappling, and it's drilled into fighters' heads from day one.

If you don't turn the corner on a double-leg and instead drive in judo-style, and your opponent gets that guillotine control, you'll end up dropping both your and your opponent's weight onto the top of your head as you hit the mat. It's a beginner's mistake, though, and I can't really figure out what Maynard was thinking.

anybody else notice that at 2:13 remaining, helmet cop grabs kid by the neck and shoves him into the other cop, wh then headlocks him, and tackles him to the ground, citing battery...


Also, I think back on some of the mischief I caused as a teenager..
To all the uptight squares who say the kids were punks and got what they deserved, you must have had really boring childhoods.

I feel shame, watching this video, that both the kids and the officers acted in this way.

The kids shouldn't have run. The officers shouldn't have reacted so violently, and should have taken control of the situation more assertively and positively from the start.

P.S. That wasn't a real chokehold you saw, that was a schoolyard-variety headlock with minimal pressure on the carotid arteries and windpipe, in other words no real choking/strangling action going on. Hell, the officer should have been better trained than that and used a real restraining hold.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

In this case, it's funny because you are seeing people who pride themselves on their cool completely lose it.

The Nolan Ryan headlock was pretty good - I think he is probably someone not to be messed with.