Video: Police release body camera footage showing Rohrer's arrest

Hours of body camera footage released Thursday by the Gastonia Police Department show a then-homeless veteran's interactions with Gastonia Police before, during and after his arrest.

The footage released by police spans two days — Oct. 9 and Oct. 13 — and features Joshua Rohrer, 38, who served in the Army National Guard and spent time in Iraq.

Rohrer was arrested on Oct. 13 and accused of panhandling and resisting arrest, and he has maintained since then those police officers he encountered were rough with him and that one officer used a taser on his service dog, Sunshine Rae. Those charges were dismissed in court.

After his arrest, Sunshine was struck by a car in Cleveland County and killed while Rohrer remained in Gaston County Jail.

The hours of body camera footage was ordered released by Gaston County Superior Court Judge David Phillips on Wednesday. Rohrer and his attorney, Andrew LaBreche, have been fighting for its release for months.

The first section of the video features conversations between Rohrer and Officer Maurice Taylor.

Taylor encountered Rohrer standing in the median at the Cox Road intersection near the Gastonia Target store, and he tells Rohrer that he can't panhandle there and that the median is part of the road. In the conversation that follows, Rohrer denies panhandling and argues with Taylor.

At one point, Rohrer asks Taylor if he is a veteran, and Taylor says he is.

"You're a veteran? You should be ashamed of yourself, man," Rohrer says.

Taylor tells Rohrer that if he sees him in the median again, he'll charge him.

Later on, though, Taylor asks Rohrer if he has been able to access services for veterans.

He tells Rohrer that Rohrer can be on the sidewalk, just not the median, and the conversation ends cordially.

"I just know that you can't be on the road. I don't care if you're on the sidewalk, man. Do what you gotta do. I really do wish you the best of luck," Taylor says. "I apologize that your country has underserved you. I honestly don't know your entire situation, so I can't really speak on it. I know my situation. I know what I do through the VA."

"And I appreciate all your service, man. I'm sorry for all the things you've been through as well," Rohrer says in response.

On Oct. 13, Roher encountered Gastonia Police Officer Cierra Brooks, who received a complaint that Rohrer was panhandling on the median. In an extended conversation, Rohrer argues with Brooks and initially refuses to give her his ID. As the argument goes on, Brooks calls for backup.

"Now you see we got a sergeant and multiple units on their way out here. And I can almost guarantee you it's not going to go the way you want it to go," Brooks says.

Taylor arrives, and Brooks tells Taylor that she wants to write Rohrer a citation for panhandling, but he is refusing to provide her with his ID.

"If you continue to argue with an officer, you're going to go to jail, and we'll have animal control pick up your dog. You cannot be here," Taylor says.

Taylor eventually asks Rohrer for his ID, but he says that he needs Rohrer's state ID, not his Veterans Affairs ID. Rohrer says that his state ID is expired.

Taylor begins handcuffing him and tells him he is being arrested, and Rohrer begins calling for help.

Brooks bends Rohrer over a police car and tries to restrain him. At that point, Sunshine Rae is behind Brooks and Rohrer, and Taylor, who is a few feet away, begins telling Rohrer to "call your dog off."

"He just bit me," Taylor says. "Call your dog off."

Sunshine Rae jumps on the hood of the police car, then jumps down again.

"Call your dog off," Taylor says, and as Sunshine Rae walks behind Brooks, Taylor fires his taser.

Sunshine Rae runs away.

Rohrer, at this point, is screaming, and Brooks pins him on the ground as Taylor calls for more police to come to the scene.

"It bit my foot, and I knew it was going to bite you," Taylor says. "It didn't break my boot, but it bit my boot."

More police arrive, and Taylor can be heard telling another officer that Sunshine Rae bit him on his boot while he was trying to handcuff Rohrer. While Sunshine's teeth did not go through the boot, he says that he thought Sunshine was going to bite Brooks, so he used his taser on Sunshine.

As the officers talk, Rohrer can be heard calling for help and asking for his dog.

Passers-by tried to intervene, telling the officers that Rohrer had been standing at that intersection for months and that Sunshine had never attacked anybody.

"We watched what happened," a woman shouts. "We watched what happened This is wrong."

Later on, in a different video, a passer-by asks a police officer, "all these police for this one guy? That's a little bit ridiculous."

Near the end of the second section of video police released, Brooks returns a phone call to a man who says he's been working with Rohrer to get him off the streets. He asks Brooks about whether Rohrer could access the Catawba County Veterans Treatment Court, and he asks if he can speak on Rohrer's behalf.

Brooks said that Rohrer had been criminally charged, and that his bond will be up to the magistrate. She also tells the man that he can't speak to the magistrate on behalf of Rohrer.

"No sir, when it goes to court you can. Not right now with the magistrate," she says.

Rohrer said in an interview after receiving the footage that he wants Taylor and Brooks to be criminally charged for their treatment of him. He and his supporters intend to push for police reform.

"Once everybody sees what they did, and they can be held accountable, that's what we're gonna do. We're gonna make sure of that so something's done about it," he said. "It's just the beginning."

Reporter Kara Fohner can be reached at 704-869-1850 or at kfohner@gannett.com. Support local journalism by subscribing here.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gastonia Police release video of U.S. Army veteran's arrest