Philadelphia Police officer to be fired after violent incident

On Friday, the Philadelphia Police announced the suspension and subsequent dismissal of a four-year veteran of the force after the officer was caught on camera slamming the head of a handcuffed man into a pool.

The victim of the incident was sent to the hospital in critical condition.

According to police, officer James Yeager, 26, who had been assigned to the city’s 24th police district, surrendered to the Philadelphia Police Department’s Internal Affairs Unit on Friday as an ongoing investigation continues into a incident that happened earlier this month.

Law enforcement officials said that on July 10, at about 12:20 a.m., officers were attempting to arrest a 21-year-old male along the 200-block of East Elkhart Street, in on a narcotics incident when the man was “swinging his arms and kicking” while trying to resist arrest.

According to police, cell phone video footage of that arrest reportedly shows Officer Yeager, in his full police uniform, grabbing the handcuffed male and slamming him to the ground.

Video of the incident was filmed and shared on Facebook by a woman named Ariel Rivera:

After that, police said that the video displayed Yeager placing his baton around the man’s chest before picking him up and swinging him around “causing the male to strike his head against the side of a pool.”

The male was then taken to Temple University Hospital in critical condition, police said.

According to police, Yeager has been suspended by Police Commissioner Richard Ross with the intent to dismiss at the end of 30 days. Law enforcement officials have not yet said if Yeager will face charges in this incident.