Corrupt Cop Breaks Woman’s Arm During a "Wellness Check! $MILLION Lawsuit Incoming

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]On October 27th, 2024, officers with the Dayton Police Department in Ohio responded to a welfare check on a woman identified as Michelle Denwiddie who had been reported as suicidal. Officers made contact with Michelle inside her vehicle. The interaction that followed was captured on officer body camera.

[00:00:19]>> How you doing, dear?

[00:00:20]>> Hi.

[00:00:21]>> You okay?

[00:00:22]>> Why?

[00:00:22]>> We got a call about you and your truck.

[00:00:25]>> What about me?

[00:00:26]>> All right. I'm not entirely sure, but somebody called and said you were suicidal or something.

[00:00:30]>> I already talked to the cop. I said I was fine.

[00:00:32]>> Okay.

[00:00:32]>> I'm going home.

[00:00:33]>> You're doing okay?

[00:00:35]>> I'm going home.

[00:00:35]>> Do you have any weapons on you?

[00:00:37]>> Come on. Please don't do this.

[00:00:39]>> I I don't know any of what's going on, okay?

[00:00:40]>> No. This is why I don't talk to cops.

[00:00:43]>> Okay.

[00:00:43]>> This is the thing. He texted me.

[00:00:46]I responded.

[00:00:48]>> Okay.

[00:00:48]>> You were in my apartment building earlier.

[00:00:52]Which >> Do you have any weapons or anything?

[00:00:54]>> I don't.

[00:00:55]>> Okay. Go and step out for me, ma'am.

[00:00:57]>> I don't need to. Why?

[00:00:58]>> You're going to step out.

[00:00:59]>> Why?

[00:00:59]>> If you don't step out, I'm going to pull you out of the car and I really don't want to do that.

[00:01:02]>> just going to check you for weapons.

[00:01:05]Turn and put your hands on the car.

[00:01:06]Don't move.

[00:01:06]>> Wait. Why am I Wait a minute. Why? I'm getting out.

[00:01:09]>> Stop.

[00:01:10]>> Hang on A SECOND.

[00:01:12]PLEASE stop doing this.

[00:01:14]>> Stop. Please stop.

[00:01:15]>> do?

[00:01:15]>> Okay. I told you we're just going to pat you down for weapons, okay?

[00:01:18]>> grabbing me?

[00:01:19]>> Cuz you're shoving into me and acting stupid.

[00:01:22]>> my phone. I'm >> Okay. I'm going to let you have your phone, but right now I'm just trying to keep control of you cuz you're acting crazy, okay?

[00:01:29]I'm going to take care of you. We're not going to take you to jail. You're not in trouble, okay?

[00:01:33]>> down, please.

[00:01:35]>> I'm I'm trying Yeah, I'm trying not to pull your hair, but >> This You guys don't hear about anybody >> We do. That's why we're out with you, okay?

[00:01:42]>> lied earlier.

[00:01:46]>> All right.

[00:01:46]>> Why am I being patted down for?

[00:01:48]>> For weapons cuz I My understanding is that you were suicidal, okay? So, I'm just making sure you don't have anything that you could hurt yourself with or anything.

[00:01:54]>> out my boyfriend cheated on me.

[00:01:56]>> We can talk about that. But, yeah. guy that you lied to me when you were in my apartment building.

[00:02:00]>> I didn't lie.

[00:02:01]>> You did lie because the cop came into my apartment and said you lied.

[00:02:05]>> Her family members called us to go check on her.

[00:02:08]>> Well, I know where she's at right now.

[00:02:10]>> Where is she?

[00:02:11]>> She just I don't care.

[00:02:12]>> Signal one?

[00:02:13]>> Why did you grab me like that?

[00:02:15]>> The truck.

[00:02:17]No. Okay. All right.

[00:02:18]>> Why did you grab me?

[00:02:20]>> Well, cuz you jumped out and started PUSHING AND SHOVING AT ME.

[00:02:23]>> I didn't. I jumped out.

[00:02:24]>> to not not to take you to jail for it.

[00:02:26]But you jumped out and got all super aggressive and I don't know what's going on with you and I don't know if you're trying >> Okay.

[00:02:32]>> Okay? And like I've tried to do this whole time is I've tried to just start talking to you and you're just yelling at me.

[00:02:38]>> Because of how you treated me. I asked you a question. You know what your cop told me when he came into my house?

[00:02:44]>> No.

[00:02:45]>> Told me that he was blowing smoke up my for me to tell him the truth.

[00:02:49]That's all you all do is [ __ ] lie.

[00:02:52]I was willing to help you guys.

[00:02:54]>> I did tell you the >> No, you didn't. You lied and told me that her family member was hurt.

[00:03:01]Anyways.

[00:03:01]>> just need a well-being check on her? Is that all we need? What do we need?

[00:03:04]>> I just talked to the guy.

[00:03:06]>> Oh, okay.

[00:03:07]Is this his car?

[00:03:08]>> It's my boyfriend's truck.

[00:03:10]Which I was on the phone with if you would >> Okay.

[00:03:13]>> grab my phone again.

[00:03:15]>> Do we need him to come down and get it or what?

[00:03:17]>> All he wanted was the truck.

[00:03:19]He lives with me.

[00:03:21]>> That's not what he said.

[00:03:24]Trying to Trying to handle your phone.

[00:03:25]He said that he lives >> Yes. See, why do you have to be So, wait.

[00:03:30]>> HERE'S THE [ __ ] DEAL. I'M GOING TO TAKE >> you're >> take you to jail.

[00:03:33]>> Why? Because you're being >> idiot to me, okay?

[00:03:37]>> Nope.

[00:03:37]>> So, stop it. Let me try to help you.

[00:03:41]>> Take me to jail because I'm cussing at you?

[00:03:43]>> Yes, cuz you're yelling and screaming and being >> No, I am.

[00:03:46]>> Okay? So, if you keep it up, I'm going to take you to jail.

[00:03:48]>> TURN AROUND FOR ME.

[00:03:49]>> STOP. NO. WHY?

[00:03:52]>> STOP. STOP.

[00:03:53]>> WHAT DID WE JUST >> WAS AN OFFICER responding to a mental health crisis, and within 3 minutes his approach had transformed a welfare check into a hostile criminal encounter.

[00:04:03]The purpose of a wellness check is de-escalation. It is not a Terry stop.

[00:04:08]It is not an arrest. And the moment this officer began threatening Michelle with jail for arguing and demanding she physically exit the vehicle, he abandoned every principle that crisis response is built on.

[00:04:20]The Supreme Court established in Terry versus Ohio, decided in 1968, that a lawful investigative detention requires reasonable articulable suspicion that criminal activity is a foot, and a mental health crisis standing alone is not criminal activity.

[00:04:36]The officer's stated reason for ordering her out was to pat her down for weapons, but he never articulated any specific objective basis for believing she was armed. He cited only that she had been reported suicidal, which courts have held is insufficient on its own to justify a frisk under Terry.

[00:04:54]She pushed back. She raised her voice.

[00:04:57]None of that changed her legal status from welfare check subject to criminal detainee. Threatening her with arrest for being uncooperative during a non-criminal encounter is not a lawful command. It is an escalation that every model crisis response protocol exists to prevent.

[00:05:16]>> Get off of me. I don't want to go to jail.

[00:05:20]>> I'm giving you what you want.

[00:05:22]>> OH MY GOD. [screaming] LET GO OF MY ARM. YOU LET GO OF MY ARM.

[00:05:27]I THINK YOU BROKE MY ARM.

[00:05:29]>> THAT'S THE [ __ ] BREAK.

[00:05:30]>> YOU BROKE MY ARM.

[00:05:32]>> ALL RIGHT. ALL RIGHT.

[00:05:33]SIT DOWN FOR US. SIT DOWN FOR US SO WE CAN GET YOU AN AMBULANCE.

[00:05:36]>> SIT DOWN. Sit down, ma'am.

[00:05:39]>> You just broke my arm. You just broke my arm.

[00:05:41]>> Sit down. Sit down.

[00:05:43]SIT DOWN.

[00:05:45]HEY, SIT DOWN SO WE CAN TAKE care of you and get you an ambulance comes, okay?

[00:05:48]>> He >> just broke my arm. Let him go.

[00:05:51]>> Okay, we're trying to get you to sit down so we can we can hold you still while the ambulance COMES, OKAY?

[00:05:57]>> I SEE HE BROKE MY ARM.

[00:06:01]WHY ARE YOU GUYS LETTING him hurt me?

[00:06:03]>> Ma'am, we're just trying to get YOU TO SIT >> [screaming] >> MY ARM IS BROKE.

[00:06:08]MY ARM IS BROKE.

[00:06:09]>> WE'RE GOING TO SIT YOU DOWN so we can get an ambulance here, okay?

[00:06:12]>> Let him break down my arm.

[00:06:13]>> Do you want to sit in my car?

[00:06:15]>> He didn't even look at it.

[00:06:17]>> [laughter] >> Oh. I think it's going to be all right.

[00:06:25]Okay.

[00:06:27]>> I'm not. You broke my arm.

[00:06:30]I can't even look at it.

[00:06:33]Please call Johnny. Please call him.

[00:06:35]>> We'll call him here in a minute, OKAY?

[00:06:36]>> WHAT THE HECK IS HE EVEN DOING TO MY ARM? It's broken, man.

[00:06:40]>> All right, I think it is broke, okay?

[00:06:42]All right, we're going to carry >> She is on the ground and someone just said her arm is broken. This is where the legal weight of this entire encounter lands. The standard for evaluating force is set out in Graham versus Connor, where the Supreme Court held the severity of the crime at issue, whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others, and whether she is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight are the factors courts must weigh.

[00:07:14]There was no crime. She was a mental health subject. No weapon threat was ever articulated on camera. What we saw was a woman being physically extracted from a vehicle during a welfare check, and the result was a broken arm. The Sixth Circuit, which governs federal civil rights cases out of Ohio, addressed the use of force against non-resisting individuals in Champion versus Outlook Nashville, decided in 2004, holding that continuing to exert hard physical force or pressure on an individual who is already subdued and non-resistant, including those in mental health distress, constitutes excessive force under the Fourth Amendment. She was not fleeing. She was not armed. She was crying. The force used to remove her from that car and whatever caused the injury to her arm must be weighed against those three Graham factors, and on this record that weighing does not favor the officer.

[00:08:09]>> Yeah.

[00:08:10]And will you grab a camera?

[00:08:13]>> Can I please put my shoe on?

[00:08:16]>> What's up here?

[00:08:21]Do you want to sit down or stand up?

[00:08:29]What now?

[00:08:30]>> We're going to take care of you.

[00:08:31]>> I want this man to get off of me, please.

[00:08:33]>> We're just trying to make sure you try to stay still.

[00:08:35]>> I'm not DOING ANYTHING. YOU BROKE MY ARM.

[00:08:42]>> WE'RE GETTING AN AMBULANCE ON ITS WAY DOWN HERE TO TAKE CARE OF YOU, OKAY?

[00:08:45]>> Please just get off of me. You're a fool.

[00:08:48]I didn't do anything.

[00:08:50]>> [laughter] >> Get off of me.

[00:08:55]>> No.

[00:08:55]>> You just broke my arm.

[00:08:57]>> I didn't.

[00:08:58]>> Who did?

[00:09:00]Who broke my arm then?

[00:09:01]>> Ma'am, there's two of us holding you.

[00:09:03]>> He didn't.

[00:09:04]So then I'm blaming him?

[00:09:05]>> We'll take care of it, okay?

[00:09:07]>> Yeah, we are going to take care of it.

[00:09:09]>> All right.

[00:09:09]We're going to do one thing at a time.

[00:09:11]>> You're you.

[00:09:13]WHY? BECAUSE YOU'RE >> OH MY GOD.

[00:09:15]>> You broke my arm.

[00:09:17]>> Please please let him just stand there with you, okay?

[00:09:20]>> Why are you letting him keep holding me for?

[00:09:22]>> I don't want you to get any hurt any worse. That's why I'm kind of holding on to your hurt arm, okay?

[00:09:26]>> Please let him let him just break my arm.

[00:09:31]>> She told them her arm was broken at least four times. They stayed on her.

[00:09:35]The Sixth Circuit made clear in Champion versus Outlook Nashville that restraining a person who was no longer resisting and who poses no immediate threat crosses from lawful control into unconstitutional force. She was on the ground. She was not fleeing. She was not fighting. She was telling them she was in pain. The moment active resistance ends, the legal justification for continued physical restraint narrows dramatically, and an officer who maintains a restraint position on an injured, non-resisting, mentally distressed person who begs them to stop does not have Graham on their side. The ambulance was called. That what happened between the first report of the broken arm and the moment she was allowed to sit up is what will determine whether this rises to the level of excessive force. And based on what this camera captured, that is a very serious question. The lead officer gets an F.

[00:10:19]From the first moments of this encounter, he treated a mental health welfare check like a criminal stop. He demanded Michelle exit the vehicle without articulating any lawful basis for an investigative detention under Terry versus Ohio. He threatened her with jail repeatedly for arguing and refusing to comply when the entire call crisis response, not a criminal investigation. He ordered a pat-down without establishing the specific articulable facts that Terry requires to justify a frisk. He and a second officer then forcibly removed her from the vehicle, and the result was a broken arm. After that injury was reported, loudly, clearly, multiple times, he remained on top of her. The Supreme Court's framework in Graham versus Connor requires that force be proportionate to the threat, and the Sixth Circuit's ruling in Champion versus Outlook Nashville makes clear that continuing to physically bear down on a subdued, non-resisting, mentally distressed person is excessive force, full stop. What makes this case even more significant is what has happened, or more accurately, what has not happened since this video went viral. As of now, neither officer involved has been fired. No civil lawsuit settlement has been finalized. The Dayton Police Department's internal posture on incidents like this one typically categorizes the injury as unintentional, a byproduct of a standard takedown procedure, which is precisely the kind of institutional framing that shields individual officers from accountability, while the person left with the broken arm receives nothing. That framing does not change the constitutional analysis.

[00:11:40]It does not change the Graham factors, and it does not change what this camera recorded. The second officer who assisted in the physical removal gets a D. He arrived as backup and followed the lead officer's direction. That is not an automatic legal shield. Officers have an independent obligation under the Fourth Amendment not to participate in unconstitutional force, and a backup officer who assists in forcibly extracting a non-criminal, non-threatening welfare subject from a vehicle cannot claim he was simply following orders. He may not have initiated the encounter, but he was present for all of it. His grade is D rather than F only because his specific individual actions are harder to fully assess from this footage alone, but any participation in the continued restraint after Michelle reported a broken arm puts him in deeply problematic legal and civil liability territory. Michelle gets no grade. She was the subject of this encounter, not a participant in any wrongdoing. She was in distress. She pushed back verbally and physically.

[00:12:33]People in mental health crises do that.

[00:12:35]It is not a crime. Every right she attempted to assert to stay in her car, to not be searched, to not be touched was legally defensible given the nature of the call. She asked for an ambulance.

[00:12:45]She asked them to get off her. She did everything short of complying with demands that no court has clearly established she was legally required to comply with during a non-criminal welfare check. She is a victim in this video, not a subject for grading. Let us know if there is an interaction or legal topic you would like us to discuss in the comments below. Thank you for watching and don't forget to subscribe to Legal Logic for police accountability analysis.