The Arkansas State Police released this video themselves — and the report that came with it was written by the trooper under scrutiny. Trooper Theodore Henderson’s own incident report admits he pulled a passenger from the SUV through a window he had just broken with his baton, by the wrist and by a handful of dreadlocks, then punched him twice in the face. The passenger wasn’t driving and hadn’t struck anyone. Tedrick Washington, 23, is the one who ended up charged.
The stop
It started the night of August 19, when a 2023 Infiniti QX50 passed Henderson running 82 in a 60 on Arkansas 18 near the Big Lake bridge in Mississippi County. The driver took off. The pursuit reached 130 miles per hour before Blytheville police laid spike strips and two pursuit-intervention attempts finally brought the SUV to a stop near North 16th and Walnut.
The driver, Adonerus Johnson, 25, was the reason for all of it — breath samples of 0.17 and a nine-count stack of charges, from felony fleeing to first-offense DWI, after he climbed into the back seat trying to escape and was held at gunpoint and Tasered by a Gosnell police corporal.
Watch where Henderson goes when the SUV stops. Not to the driver. To the rear passenger door.
What the report admits
Henderson ordered Washington out. Washington said he could not get out. The rear driver’s side window was broken with a baton while Washington was still inside, and then — per Henderson’s own account — he grabbed Washington’s left wrist and a handful of his dreadlocks and pulled him through the broken opening, down to the ground.
Henderson’s justification for the punches is that Washington “postured up.” The first closed-fist strike landed on the left side of his face. The second, to the left cheek, came during handcuffing — while Washington, per the report, kept one arm tucked under his own head.
A fellow officer’s report adds what Henderson’s leaves out. Gosnell Cpl. Cade Liles described “multiple closed-hand strikes” and wrote that Washington was bleeding afterward. Paramedics examined all three occupants. No one was taken to a hospital.
Charged, while the review goes quiet
Washington was booked on obstruction of governmental operations and resisting arrest. The front-seat passenger, who complied, was released with no charges. The man pulled through broken glass by his hair is the one now answering to a court.
The released records contain no Arkansas State Police administrative finding on Henderson’s use of force and no statement from Washington. Gosnell reviewed its own corporal’s conduct — the gun, the Taser, the hands-on — and called it justified. That review did not cover Henderson, and no charges have been announced against him.
Eighteen days earlier, same county, same agency
On August 1, Arkansas State Police Trooper Moisses Arellano stopped 18-year-old Alisa Hackett for speeding in the same county. His own dashcam recorded him telling her, “I’ll punch you again if you don’t turn around,” before she was taken to the ground.
The agency reviewed that force internally and found it not excessive. Arellano was counseled — for failing to identify himself and for cursing. He is still employed.
The Arkansas Legislative Black Caucus demanded an independent investigation and suspensions on August 26 — three days before the Henderson video became public. State Police Director Col. Mike Hagar declined to appear before lawmakers, citing a pending federal lawsuit, and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ office said it would be improper to comment during active litigation. Nobody has been suspended.
What happens next
Washington still faces the obstruction and resisting charges. Henderson faces no announced discipline, no administrative finding, nothing in the public record beyond his own report — released by his own agency like routine paperwork.
Washington’s charges are allegations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty; the same presumption protects Henderson, whom no one has charged at all. This post will be updated as court dates, filings, or any internal disciplinary decision become public.
Two troopers, one county, eighteen days apart, both on camera. What does it take before one of them faces consequences?
Sources
NEA Report · KHBS 40/29 · ABC24 Memphis
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