A Viral Arrest
A dash‑cam recording captured a police pursuit that began on August 19 in Blytheville, Arkansas, when an Infiniti SUV accelerated to more than 130 mph, weaving through city streets as officers attempted to bring the vehicle to a stop.
The passenger of the SUV was identified as Tedrick Washington Jr., a former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) basketball player who appeared in 31 games during the previous season.
State troopers eventually caught up to the speeding SUV, but Washington struggled to comply with repeated commands to crawl out of the car. An Arkansas State Trooper seized his dreadlocks and struck him in the face, an encounter that was later confirmed by the trooper’s own dash‑cam footage.
Washington uploaded the raw footage to his Facebook page, writing, “Justice will be served; I want my story to be heard.” The post quickly amassed thousands of shares, turning the incident into a focal point for online discussion.
The City of Blytheville issued a statement denying any direct involvement in the altercation, acknowledging the community’s pain and anger while promising a transparent review of the incident.
Since the video’s release, it has gone viral, drawing national attention to both the conduct of the trooper and the broader issue of police‑citizen interactions in rural Arkansas.