{"id":136006,"date":"2026-01-29T06:44:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T06:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/136006\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T06:44:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T06:44:14","slug":"bodycam-footage-shows-jacksonville-deputy-slapping-handcuffed-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/136006\/","title":{"rendered":"Bodycam Footage Shows Jacksonville Deputy Slapping Handcuffed Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Florida man<\/a> has filed a federal lawsuit against two sheriff\u2019s deputies after body camera footage contradicted early police accounts of a February 2024 traffic stop that ended with him being slapped while handcuffed\u2014an incident now central to renewed scrutiny around police brutality<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The encounter occurred on February 9, 2024, when Dwon Ellis Jr. left a cemetery where he had been honoring what would have been his late son\u2019s seventh birthday. <\/p>\n

According to a statement issued by the Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office (JSO) at the time to First Coast News<\/a>, officers stopped Ellis after he allegedly failed to stop fully at two stop signs on 13th Street West near Canal Street and Division Street.<\/p>\n

An arrest report states that after pulling Ellis over, the responding officer claimed to smell \u201cthe odor of burnt marijuana\u201d coming from the vehicle. Ellis denied smoking marijuana and told officers he did not possess a medical marijuana card. A database check revealed Ellis\u2019 driver\u2019s license had been suspended in March 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cI informed Mr. Ellis that his license was suspended and asked him to step out of the vehicle because he did not have a valid driver\u2019s license,\u201d the arresting officer wrote in the report.<\/p>\n

Police accounts from that night allege Ellis resisted during a pat-down. The report states Ellis \u201cactively physically resist[ed] by turning his body,\u201d then continued resisting after being placed in handcuffs by tensing his arms and pressing away from the officers.<\/p>\n

Local reporting at the time reflected that narrative. The outlet cited JSO\u2019s claim that Ellis \u201ccontinued to resist\u201d arrest and confirmed the department had opened an internal review after video of the incident went viral. JSO said in a statement, \u201cWe are currently reviewing the incident and circumstances that unfolded during the arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n

What was not disclosed in the arrest report\u2014but is clearly visible in body camera footage released later\u2014is Officer T. Murphy striking Ellis in the face three times while Ellis was handcuffed and standing against his vehicle. <\/p>\n

In the video, Murphy can be heard yelling \u201cstop resisting,\u201d while Ellis repeatedly responds, \u201cI\u2019m not resisting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those omissions are now central to Ellis\u2019 lawsuit.<\/p>\n

According to News4Jax,<\/a> the suit accuses Officers J.A. Hendricks and Murphy of excessive force, failure to intervene, and fabrication of evidence, alleging violations of Ellis\u2019 Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. <\/p>\n

The complaint also names Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters, Duval County, and the City of Jacksonville, alleging systemic practices that allow abuse to go unreported.<\/p>\n

Despite Plaintiff\u2019s full compliance, the lawsuit states, Murphy \u201cslapped Plaintiff in the face three times,\u201d then threatened additional violence. The complaint further alleges Murphy gripped the back of Ellis\u2019 neck and lifted him by his handcuffs, forcing him into what the suit describes as a painful and unnatural position.<\/p>\n

Multiple recordings\u2014including body cameras and civilian video\u2014captured the encounter.<\/p>\n

Ellis ultimately faced charges including running stop signs, driving with a suspended license, and resisting arrest without violence. He later entered a plea deal in which the resisting charge resulted in a conviction while other charges were dismissed.<\/p>\n

Following Ellis\u2019 complaint, Murphy was suspended for eight days.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t understand it. I just felt bad,\u201d Ellis later said. \u201cI was angry. I was hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

His attorney, Stephen B. Kelly Jr., described the incident in stark terms: \u201cSlapping someone who you know is unarmed, being compliant and handcuffed\u2026 is wrong. That\u2019s not a police tactic. That\u2019s humiliation, and that\u2019s assault and battery.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Florida man has filed a federal lawsuit against two sheriff\u2019s deputies after body camera footage contradicted early…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-136006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}