{"id":243803,"date":"2026-04-23T21:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T21:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/243803\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T21:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T21:16:09","slug":"orlando-police-release-video-of-ocoee-mans-arrest-after-family-hires-attorney-crump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/243803\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando police release video of Ocoee man\u2019s arrest after family hires attorney Crump"},"content":{"rendered":"

The family of an Ocoee man who fell into a coma last month soon while in custody of the Orlando Police Department announced Thursday they had hired civil rights attorney Ben Crump<\/a> in their quest for answers \u2014 and hours later the department released body-worn camera footage of his arrest.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still unclear what happened on the night of March 27.<\/p>\n

At around 10:22 p.m., Terry Mitchell, 55, was stopped by police while driving on Washington Street near Dollins Avenue minutes from downtown.<\/p>\n

What began as a stop over an unworn seatbelt quickly escalated to a struggle, as Mitchell resisted being handcuffed for several drug charges after police claimed they found cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana in his car, according to his arrest affidavit.<\/p>\n

The department said in a statement they suspected Mitchell swallowed narcotics as he was chewing on a \u201cplastic item\u201d and refused to spit it out. There was also \u201can unknown white substance in and around\u201d his mouth that tested presumptive positive for cocaine, the affidavit said.<\/p>\n

A cellphone video taken by his girlfriend Chambre Frazier and shared with news outlets shows him being led toward a patrol car while asking that she contact his employer.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wasn\u2019t fighting for his life when he left,\u201d Frazier said.<\/p>\n

Mitchell arrived at the Orange County Jail and was turned away by medical staff after he began spitting blood with no explanation. Mitchell was then taken to the AdventHealth hospital in Millenia, where by 11:50 p.m. he was unresponsive.<\/p>\n

According to his family, doctors explained it was the result of a traumatic brain injury.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Crump, alongside Frazier and Mitchell\u2019s family, called a press conference at the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Eatonville to pressure OPD for answers, saying it had been nearly a month and no one had explained what took place that night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened to Terry Mitchell?\u201d Ben Crump asked, arms locked with his family as they entered the temple to face reporters.<\/p>\n

Hours later, OPD released videos of the incident showing Mitchell\u2019s arrest, the trip to the jail and later what took place at the hospital, accompanied by a statement that largely mirrors what was stated in court filings. The department also announced an internal investigation into the incident is underway.<\/p>\n

The footage shows Mitchell at the hospital struggling with officers as they held him down while doctors looked to treat him. He was later brought to the ground and propped up on his side when an officer bent over to look at him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs he breathing? Something don\u2019t look right. Check a pulse,\u201d one officer said. Seconds later, he exclaimed, \u201cHey, get a doctor!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy, what\u2019s up?\u201d a hospital worker replied. \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d the officer said, \u201che don\u2019t look right.\u201d<\/p>\n

The affidavit does not explain what led to his injuries, only that at some point officers vaguely described executing a \u201ccoordinated arrest technique to place Mitchell on the ground,\u201d which was captured on video released by OPD. It also describes him having the substance in and around his mouth.<\/p>\n

In one video clip, an officer claimed that the blood coming from Mitchell\u2019s mouth was from a self-inflicted injury that occurred at some point after he was handcuffed and placed in a patrol.<\/p>\n

\u201cPossibly due to the ingestion of suspected illegal narcotics, Mitchell experienced a medical emergency and remains hospitalized,\u201d OPD\u2019s statement read.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Crump did not respond to a message seeking comment on the videos\u2019 release.<\/p>\n

If he survives, Mitchell, described by loved ones as a working man and a joyful father of two daughters, might never be the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re praying for a miracle,\u201d his mother, Rosa Richardson, told reporters.<\/p>\n

Mitchell\u2019s family said they were not notified of his failing health and hospitalization until days later, after he didn\u2019t appear in court for his first hearing before a judge. While court records say his presence was waived for \u201cmedical\u201d reasons, his family claims they were told he was being \u201cuncooperative.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until March 31, four days after he fell ill, that they said OPD confirmed he was in the hospital. OPD did not address that claim in its statement nor when asked by the Orlando Sentinel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey told us if it was life-threatening that we would have known,\u201d Frazier said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t until April 1 that [the jail\u2019s] medical department reached back out and told us that they needed to speak to next of kin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alongside Crump, whose law firm previously represented the families of people injured or killed by Orlando officers, the family met with OPD officials following the press conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cA family should not have to call a civil rights lawyer to get answers,\u201d said Natalie Jackson, a partner of Crump\u2019s law firm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The family of an Ocoee man who fell into a coma last month soon while in custody of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[2335,107405,1089,3538,1049,139,141,140,8416,107402],"class_list":{"0":"post-243803","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-ben-crump","9":"tag-chambre-frazier","10":"tag-family","11":"tag-macedonia-missionary-baptist-church","12":"tag-opd","13":"tag-orlando","14":"tag-orlando-headlines","15":"tag-orlando-news","16":"tag-orlando-police-department","17":"tag-terry-mitchell"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243803","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=243803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}