Forceful arrest of man on Copley Road captured on cellphone video, social media posts

The forceful arrest Saturday in Akron of a 31-year-old man wanted on domestic violence and drug charges has garnered criticism and possible bail money from local activists who are circulating cellphone videos on social media.

The videos begin moments before an officer delivers two of the three punches thrown to Jordan Ely Sr.'s face and head in a busy parking lot on Copley Road. One video ends with Ely in handcuffs with a bloody mouth, crying out "no" over and over again.

The videos on Twitter and Facebook have been viewed more than 10,000 times.

The Beacon Journal on Sunday reached out to the Akron Police Department, which agreed to allow a reporter to view body-worn camera footage depicting what led to the quick escalation of force, how officers initially approached Ely and how he responded. Police publicly released the footage Monday.

Ely was charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest and obstruction of official business, as well as felony drug abuse after police searched his vehicle and found what they entered into evidence as a 2.5-gram baggie with white powder that field-tested positive for fentanyl. The substance will be sent for further testing.

Ely's 1-year-old son, who was released into the custody of the boy's mother, was the only other occupant in the vehicle during his father's two-minute altercation with police.

Based on social media video, body-worn camera footage from the Akron Police Department and the arresting officer's report, this is what happened.

Why Akron police stopped Jordan Ely

About 7 p.m. Saturday while patrolling West Akron, two officers in Akron police Car 8 ran "a registration check" on an orange Ford Escape heading south on Wildwood Avenue. The temporary tags on the vehicle, which is registered to Ely's mother, had expired two weeks earlier. An onboard computer system notified the two officers that the vehicle was linked to Ely, who did not have an active driver's license.

The system also told police that Ely had several criminal warrants for unresolved cases, including two domestic violence cases before the Akron Municipal Court and a felony fentanyl possession charge filed by the Summit County Sheriff's Office in June 2020.

The officers caught up with the Ford Escape as it turned into the Family Dollar on Copley Road. The officers, according to their report, flipped on their lights and sirens as Ely parked the Ford Escape and started walking away.

Body-worn police footage shows escalation in seconds

In the officers' body-worn camera footage, Ely is seen walking back to the open driver's side vehicle door and turning toward the two patrolmen and then beginning to step backward away from them.

An officer asked, "What's up, man?" The other patrolman told Ely, "Get on the ground."

In their report, the officers said they moved in fast "to prevent him from accessing any potential weapons or contraband in the vehicle."

"Please, sir," Ely said in the footage as officers put their hands on him. "Please don't do this to me. I can't. I can't. I can't, officers."

Ely's hands were open and empty as officers moved in to cuff them. One officer tackled Ely by holding his legs together even after they went to the ground.

The chest-mounted cameras are mostly obscured during the 60 seconds of grappling that ensued.

This is where the cellphone footage posted on social media begins.

Cellphone footage captures punches to the face

As one officer continued to wrestle with his legs, Ely was partially seated with his body twisted onto his left hip. From behind, the second officer briefly wrapped his left arm around and under Ely's neck before delivering two closed fists to his head and face.

Ely planted his left arm on the pavement and pushed his body with the officers on him. The officers continued to order Ely to stop resisting and give up his hands. The officer then threw a third punch and flattened Ely to the ground on his stomach, occasionally using a knee in his back when Ely tried to twist upward.

The officers still hadn't handcuffed Ely, who pulled his hand free again as a woman, recording with her cellphone, said: “Don’t move, bro. Don’t move.”

Others recording the incident reassured Ely that the encounter was all on tape. They also criticized police.

Ely took one last look at an arresting officer and then faced the pavement as he was handcuffed.

“I can’t breathe. I can't breathe. I got asthma," he said.

Medics treat and release Jordan Ely at the scene

Backup units arrived and quickly confirmed that a medic had been called as Ely insisted that he did nothing worth getting stopped.

“I wasn’t trying to fight you. I didn’t swing at you, officer,” Ely said on the body-worn camera footage.

“Well, your tags are expired. You got a bunch of warrants,” an officer replied. “So, if you just listened to us, none of this would have happened.”

"I'm sorry. I'm just scared," Ely told the officer.

"I don't care if you're scared," the officer replied.

The "Code 32" call for a medical unit was answered. Paramedics treated and released Ely on scene, according to the arresting officers' report. Ely was then transported by Akron police to the county jail, where he appeared remotely Monday morning on a video screen in the felony arraignment courtroom on the seventh floor of the Harold K. Stubbs Justice Center.

Victim in Ely's domestic violence cases wants to drop the charges

Ely's warrants, not counting the contempt-of-court charges, stem from five unresolved criminal cases. The oldest involved a temporary restraining order from a domestic violence incident in October 2010 at a hotel on West Market Street where Ely was also charged in September 2021 with assault.

The mother of Ely's son told the Beacon Journal on Monday that the domestic violence charges likely involved her.

"I tried to drop them," the woman said of the charges against her son's father. "(The authorities) said I have to wait until he's picked up."

The other charges against Ely involve drug paraphernalia and damaging or endangering from 2021. He was last arrested by Akron police Jan. 19, 2023, in a domestic violence case. Court records indicate he was arraigned the next day and released on a $10,000 bond. He only had to pay 10%, or $1,000 plus $50 in fees.

Ely did not appear at his pretrial hearing on Feb. 2 when court records show a judge reissued an arrest warrant.

His mother told the Beacon Journal on Monday that the authorities gave no indication he was wanted on outstanding warrants in Summit County and Akron when the family picked him up from jail on March 28.

"They're just making up stuff," Ely's mother said of his arrest Saturday. "I don't understand. I don't know how he got six warrants out of nowhere."

Bond set higher after previous failures to appear

Criminal justice reform advocates with the Akron Bail Fund attended his felony arraignment Monday. One said the group is interested in Ely's case, which has drawn attention in online activism circles for the force and escalation on display in the video.

What isn't in the social media video but present in the officer-worn camera footage is the confiscation of drugs found in Ely's vehicle while his 1-year-old son was inside.

"You can't be a dad with drugs," a bystander in the video said to Ely as he asked police what will happen to his son.

In arraignment court, a visiting judge took into account the $1,000 bonds Ely has posted in the past as the prosecutor's office recommended the same, and a public defender argued for less.

"I'm thinking along the lines of $25,000," the judge said. "Since $10,000 (or $1,000 at 10%) didn't ensure his presence, we'll set it at $20,000."

Ely is scheduled on July 13 to go again before Akron Municipal Court Judge Nicole Walker, who set his bail in January and then signed the warrant for his arrest in February when he didn't show.

How Akron will investigate its use of force

Akron Police Capt. Dave Laughlin said the two officers' actions will be reviewed, as is standard for the more than 200 times each year that officers use force.

The results of the internal investigation will be forwarded to the independent police auditor and Citizens’ Police Oversight Board, Laughlin said.

Ely's mother said someone from a group protesting for police reform has pledged to come up with Ely's bond as she considers hiring an attorney to represent her son in his criminal case as well as in regard to the way in which he was arrested.

"I just don't see that any of this is worth beating him and spitting on him," the mother said, referring to how an officer's chewing gum bounced off Ely during the arrest. "I can't even watch the tape. It hurts."

Police Chief Steve Mylett is withholding official comment on the case until the use-of-force investigation is completed, Laughlin said.

At the request of the Beacon Journal and to provide more transparency with only the more forceful half of the incident circulating online, the chief agreed to release a redacted version of the officers' body-worn camera footage, Laughlin said.

Reach reporter Doug Livingston at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3792.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cellphone video on social media shows man's forceful Akron arrest