Hearing-impaired man refused to be handcuffed but police elbowed him in an arrest that went viral

A viral video showed how officers at the Paterson Police Department in New Jersey forcefully handcuffed a man with a hearing disability. Locals were enraged by how the cops handled the situation.

Growing concerns and outrage enveloped the residents of Paterson after they had a glimpse of the clip that showed the police officers using blunt force to arrest a deaf man, who also happened to have a leg injury.

The arrest happened after an altercation where the man was seen throwing stuff at the officers. At first, locals were trying to calm him down, but he didn’t budge. Soon enough, the cops decided to arrest him.

Deaf man in Paterson maced by police sparks outrage https://t.co/ZZQnxf82X7 pic.twitter.com/1Rnvr07LFM

— NorthJersey.com (@northjersey) October 1, 2018

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Since the man was refusing to be handcuffed, the cops started to use pepper spray and even punched the hearing-impaired man a couple of times.

As the scene went down, residents were shouting at the officers for the supposed abuse they were inflicting on the deaf man.

Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh spoke with News 12 and claimed that an investigation into what happened is on the works.

He said, “I am aware of the video. We’re taking this situation very seriously. We’ve taken this so seriously that we’ve referred the matter to the prosecutor’s office so that an independent investigation can be conducted.”

At the time, many locals were taking videos as the altercation was going down. Two of them spoke with the news station and said that they personally know the deaf man. They also believed that what occurred was unacceptable.

Samuel Sparks said, “[This] makes the city of Paterson be afraid of the officers. There's a lot that needs to be done…I'm not saying the streets is always right and I'm not saying the officers [are] always right, but right is right and wrong is wrong.”

Arrest of deaf man in Paterson under investigation https://t.co/iAk4FQ4M5E pic.twitter.com/NsWf5MhOPa

— PIX11 News (@PIX11News) October 2, 2018

As for the other one, 18-year-old Miguel Avila suggested that there is a big divide between the community and the Paterson Police Department. He said the gap is huge that even young people no longer dream to become police officers.

“If we [become] police officers, it’s like us betraying the people…we care for and love. It’s like it’s going to be us against them, basically,” said Avila.

An investigation is indeed underway, as confirmed by the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office.

Meanwhile, a 59-year-old white man was arrested at the airport after police responded to a report that he had been showing unruly behavior at the ticket counter of America Airlines.

"They are treating me like a (expletive) black person." Doctor arrested at OIA tells us why he did it: https://t.co/747uG93w0s pic.twitter.com/BygGbJQcy7

— WESH 2 News (@WESH) August 16, 2018

In the video, he appeared very enraged with the situation and became angrier when he was told that the airlines would not allow him to get on the plane.

In the end, he claimed that the police officers treated him like a black person while he was being arrested at the airport.