Videos show Clovis officers punching man during arrest. Police say there’s more to it

An arrest in Clovis made the rounds on social media on Tuesday, after several videos emerged showing a police officer repeatedly punching a suspect in the head while another officer fights to hold the suspect to the ground so he can be taken into custody.

Sandrea Diaz received one such video from a friend who was in traffic at Gettysburg and Peach avenues when the arrest happened. The 12-second video, shot from inside a car, shows several officers approach the man who is laying on the sidewalk. An officer grabs the man’s arm and then begins hitting the man in the head and face as he struggles to roll over.

Diaz quickly asked for permission to share the video on her Facebook page and with several news outlets, including The Fresno Bee.

“Those cops have no right to do that to that man,” she said in a message to The Bee.

On Thursday, the Clovis Police Department gave additional context to what is seen in the video.

Lt. Jim Munro said he doesn’t blame citizens for wanting to capture the scene and that the videos being circulated aren’t pretty to watch. But they don’t show the full scope of the encounter.

According to the department, an officer was going through the intersection when he spotted the man, identified as John Bartram. He was in traffic and acting strangely. The officer recognized Bartram and knew him to be violent and to use drugs, Munro said.

Bartram has been arrested 15 times over the past five years: “Almost every time he fights with us,” Munro said.

At the time of Tuesday’s arrest, Bertram was on parole for assaulting an officer.

Body camera video shows the suspect running away from the initial officer. That officer, after a struggle, deployed his taser multiple times before backup arrived. The taser was not effective, Munro said.

The social media videos show the scene once backup arrived and officers were attempting to cuff Bartram. The punches seen in the video are “distraction strikes,” Munro said, a form of pain compliance that is trained by officers and authorized under department policy.

“They are trained and they worked,” he said.

Bartram was taken into custody and charged with threatening and assaulting a law enforcement officer and violation of probation.

Munro also said what isn’t as visible in the videos, but clear in body camera, is Bartram attempting to bite and kick officers and trying to take an officer’s Taser.

There are no plans to release any body camera footage at this time.

“Use of force is not pretty,” Munro said.

“Sometimes it is necessary. And this is one of those times.”