Mother of man whose controversial arrest was caught on video speaks out

PITTSBURGH — The mother of Jashon Martin says she’s sick to her stomach watching her son’s arrest Friday night on Smithfield Street near Strawberry Way, seen in cell phone video that has circulated online and in local headlines. Ms. Martin says when she last talked to her son, he said he was in a great deal of pain from being kicked and punched.

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Channel 11 has learned the officers involved in this arrest are not on leave and the District Attorney’s Office is waiting on body camera footage and police reports before making any determinations.

In the cell phone video, you can see an officer repeatedly punching Martin. Another officer even held his colleague’s hand back to prevent more punching. Court documents say the officer punched Martin because he was grabbing his waistband for what he believed to be a weapon and Martin was biting the officer. Later during the arrest, you see another officer jump on Martin with his knees.

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The NAACP says these methods are troublesome and they want to learn if there are any policies preventing these types of behaviors among Pittsburgh Police officers.

Police say they surveilled Martin for over four hours Friday night and watched him deal drugs to two teens including marijuana and crack cocaine. Court documents say it also appeared Martin had a weapon on him. After his arrest, a knife was found.

Monday afternoon, Mayor Ed Gainey said the city would be sending out a statement following a meeting with top city leaders. That statement never came. Channel 11 followed up with the Mayor’s office today. We were told:

“We are working through what the internal review will look like, and have some outstanding questions with the law office before we can make a public comment. We will have a statement as soon as we are able to.”

The Citizen Police Review Board is an independent group. They’ve opened an investigation and say it’s too early to make any determination until all the facts are out there.

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