VAN BUREN -- A man who was shown being held down and beaten by three law enforcement officers in a video that went viral on social media in August now faces charges stemming from his arrest.
Randal Worcester, 27, of Goose Creek, S.C., entered a not guilty plea in Crawford County Circuit Court on Wednesday to felony charges of first-degree terroristic threatening and second-degree battery, as well as misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest, possessing an instrument of crime, obstructing governmental operations and disorderly conduct, according to court records.
A pre-trial hearing has been set for 9 a.m. April 4 in Van Buren.
Denis Dean, senior deputy prosecuting attorney for the 4th Judicial District, filed the charges Dec. 1, court records state. Rinda Baker, county prosecutor, said Aug. 31 she requested a special prosecutor regarding charges against Worcester.
Worcester received widespread attention after Zack King and Levi White, who were both deputies of the Crawford County Sheriff's Office, as well as officer Thell Riddle of the Mulberry Police Department, were recorded on video using force while arresting Worcester at about 10:40 a.m. Aug. 21 outside the Kountry Xpress convenience store in Mulberry. The video showed the officers repeatedly punching and kneeing Worcester, as well as telling a bystander to get away from the scene.
An officer identified as White in a federal civil rights lawsuit Worcester filed Aug. 29 was also shown slamming Worcester's head to the pavement.
The lawsuit accuses White, King and Riddle, along with Mulberry Police Chief Shannon Gregory, Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante, Mulberry, the Mulberry Police Department, Crawford County and the Crawford County Sheriff's Office of violating Worcester's rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth amendments of the U.S. Constitution and, by extension, federal law. It also accuses them of committing negligence, battery and assault against Worcester.
White filed a counterclaim to Worcester's lawsuit Oct. 6 accusing Worcester of battery and asking for a judgment against Worcester for the damages Worcester reportedly inflicted on him Aug. 21. A jury trial for the lawsuit is scheduled for Sept. 11.
Worcester was arrested in connection with suspicion of second-degree battery, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, resisting arrest, possessing an instrument of crime, criminal trespass, second-degree criminal mischief and first-degree terroristic threatening after the incident, according to the Sheriff's Office's online inmate roster. He was released from jail on $15,000 bail Aug. 22.
Damante said Aug. 25 that Worcester was reported to have threatened a female employee at Sargent's gas station off Interstate 40 in Alma with a knife Aug. 21. He proceeded to spit on the woman and left by bicycle.
King, White and Riddle encountered Worcester shortly afterward in Mulberry, Damante said. Worcester, who still had a knife, reportedly gave the officers a false name. Worcester then "aggressively tackled" one of the officers trying to arrest him, slamming the officer's head into the concrete and causing a concussion, in addition to punching him on the head.
The video of the incident that went viral through social media didn't include any of this, though some of it was recorded via a vehicle camera, according to Damante.
Russell Wood, an attorney with the Wood Law Firm in Russellville representing White and King, identified White as the deputy Worcester reportedly attacked in a news release Aug. 22.
Damante also said Worcester is a convicted felon who's been charged with, or convicted of, multiple incidents in the last 10 years, including an assault on a police officer.
Worcester pleaded guilty in Cleveland County, Okla., to felony assault and battery on a police officer and misdemeanor obstructing an officer in August 2021, according to records provided by the county's District Court Clerk's Office. He received a three-year suspended prison sentence for the first charge and a 60-day sentence for the second charge, including time served, court records state.
Worcester was also sentenced to 120 days in jail in December 2020 on a misdemeanor charge of domestic abuse -- assault and battery and 30 days in jail in October 2021 on a misdemeanor charge of possession of a controlled dangerous substance, according to records.
After being suspended with pay in the wake of Worcester's Aug. 21 arrest, White and King were fired effective Sept. 29 with a recommendation for decertification due to "excessive use of force," according to records provided by the Arkansas Division on Law Enforcement Standards and Training.
Riddle is still on administrative leave as of Nov. 2, according to the city of Mulberry.
Attorney Emily White has said she was appointed special prosecuting attorney for the Arkansas State Police's independent investigation into the use of force in Worcester's arrest. She received the investigative file from State Police on Sept. 2.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Arkansas, the Department of Justice and the FBI's field office in Little Rock also opened a civil-rights investigation into the incident, according to authorities.
Second civil rights lawsuit
Attorneys Adam Rose and David L. Powell of Fort Smith filed a federal lawsuit for Sarah Trammell, 44, of Uniontown on Oct. 14 concerning a reported use of force by the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office. The lawsuit accuses former Deputy Zack King, current Sheriff Jimmy Damante, the Sheriff’s Office and Crawford County of violating Trammell’s rights under federal law during an arrest of Trammell on June 19, as well as committing negligence, battery and assault against her. A jury trial for Trammell’s lawsuit is set for 9 a.m. Oct. 23 in Fort Smith.
Source: U.S. District Court records