ARKANSAS TROOPER PULLED PASSENGER BY HIS DREADLOCKS AND PUNCHED HIM TWICE

Tedrick Washington, 23, was a back-seat passenger when Trooper Theodore Henderson broke the SUV’s rear window, pulled him by his dreadlocks and punched him twice.

Tedrick Washington, 23, after the encounter with Arkansas State Police.

Tedrick Washington was not driving the SUV that led Arkansas police on a high-speed pursuit. He was sitting in the back seat when Arkansas State Police Trooper Theodore Henderson turned his attention toward him, broke the rear driver-side window with a baton, grabbed Washington by his arm and dreadlocks, pulled him toward the opening and punched him in the face.

Henderson later reported striking Washington a second time after the struggle moved to the ground. Photographs taken afterward show Washington with blood on his face, and emergency medical personnel were called to examine the occupants.

🎥 Police video shows Arkansas State Police Trooper Theodore Henderson pulling Tedrick Washington by his dreadlocks and punching him during the arrest.

Trooper Theodore Henderson at the SUV window during the encounter.

The force used against Washington is the center of this record. The 23-year-old passenger was pulled from the vehicle by his hair, struck in the face and left visibly bleeding after an encounter that began with the driver’s conduct, not his own.

Police later charged Washington with obstruction of governmental operations and resisting arrest. The released records include Henderson’s account of the encounter, but they do not include a separate Arkansas State Police administrative finding on whether Henderson’s use of force complied with department policy. They also do not include a statement from Washington.

Washington near law enforcement vehicles after the encounter.

The Aug. 19 encounter followed a pursuit in which police said the SUV reached 130 mph. That context explains why multiple agencies were already involved when the vehicle stopped, but it does not erase the distinction between the driver and the passenger Henderson pulled by his dreadlocks and punched.

Washington’s bleeding face remains part of the visual record. What is still missing is a separate ASP finding addressing the force Henderson used against him.

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