Holly MatkinFayetteville, NC – The Fayetteville Police Department (FPD) said it is reviewing the actions police took while taking an attempted homicide suspect into custody last week.
Convicted felon Jerrico Bailey, 33, was wanted out of Simpsonville, South Carolina for allegedly shooting someone three times, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) told WRAL.
Fayetteville police teamed up with members of the USMS task force on Dec. 30, 2020, and were able to apprehend Bailey on Raeford Road.
He was arrested on charges of possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and attempted murder, WRAL reported.
Police said Bailey was still carrying the gun he allegedly used during the attempted murder in South Carolina when they took him into custody.
His arrest was recorded by Deanna Royal, who took to social media afterwards to sharply criticize officers’ use of firearms during the high-risk apprehension.
“I DON’T GIVE A DAMN WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY OR WHAT THE MAN DID THIS S*** NEEDS TO BE INVESTIGATED,” Royal wrote in a Facebook post along with the video.
The footage showed Royal ranting and complaining as officers took Bailey into custody on the side of the road.
Bailey was standing on a sidewalk with his hands raised in the air as police moved in.
At least two officers had their weapons pointed at the suspect, to include an officer who was holding a rifle, the video showed.
“I will not move my f—king car,” Royal declared in the video. “I dunno what the f—k these people are doing!”
As one of the officers began handcuffing the suspect, the officer with the rifle moved in closely and pointed his weapon at Bailey’s head, the video showed.
“Hell to the f—k no!” Royal yelled. “Who is this guy? Check on your people, seriously.”
Royal wrote in the video caption that the officers “should all be held accountable” for the way Bailey was arrested.
“ID LOVE TO SEE WHAT NARRIATIVE THEY TRY TO SPEND TO DEFEND HIS ACTIONS. THERE IS NONE,” she declared. “YOU GOT THE RIGHT TO F****** TRIAL, NOT DIE.”
She further explained that the video did not show her “getting out of the car screaming at the officer with the gun.”
Royal claimed the officer “turned around and smiled” at her as he continued to point the weapon at Bailey’s head.
She said she planned to lodge a complaint with the Fayetteville police chief over the officers’ actions.
“They did him so dirty and they almost killed me and then process f****** jumping across Lanes of traffic out of nowhere this program was just walking on the f****** street,” Royal wrote. “It don’t matter what he was wanted for there were three other officers with guns as well.”
Royal told WRAL that she posted the video because she wanted what she “witnessed and felt to be heard somehow, and properly.”
“In what world does a man (Officer of the law) with an AR 15 less than two inches from a man’s skull, with his hands in the air, in full compliance, before ever being approached have the audacity to turn to me with tears in my face and smirk and move closer to the man’s face as I’m begging him to stop, in the middle of a six lane highway ??” Royal wrote in another Facebook post.
“Please, help me understand? Please help Jerrico Bailey understand! When did police become judge and jury ?” she added.
The FPD said in a statement that it is aware of the video and that – as per protocol – the officers’ actions “will be reviewed to ensure policies and procedures were followed appropriately while getting this violent fugitive out of our community,” WRAL reported.
