Street corner evangelist Adam LaCroix was using a megaphone to preach on campus at the University of South Florida when a campus police officer appeared to suddenly take him into custody.
In a video that quickly went viral, Officer Philip Eonda starts cuffing LaCroix without warning. Then, when he starts telling Lacroix what he was arresting him for, his explanation simply trails off.
LaCroix doesn’t fight against the arrest, and only complains about how the handcuffs are “on wrong.”
Eonda can be heard telling LaCroix, “You’re going to get the concrete if you don't shut up.”
In his report, Eonda claims that he had verbally informed LaCroix of his infraction before placing him in handcuffs. But according to what can be seen in the video taken by other evangelists at the scene, Eonda doesn’t make an honest attempt to explain anything to LaCroix until they get to officer’s vehicle.
According to FOX 13, Meg Ross, a captain with USF police, refused to acknowledge the apparent differences between Eonda’s report and video evidence.
“Editing can be done very professionally. I can’t tell you whether it was edited or not,” Ross said. “The officer wrote a very thorough report and we stand by what the officer’s actions are.”
She also refused to comment about Eonda threatening LaCroix with an express trip to the pavement.
According to FOX 13, LaCroix expressed that he would have been very accommodating if Eonda had started a conversation instead of detaining him and carting him away in front of students, who cheered for his arrest.
See the footage of the arrest below.