Former Crawford County deputy sentenced in case stemming from a violent arrest caught on video

FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP/FOX 16) — Two former Arkansas law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of a man they repeatedly punched during a violent arrest caught on video in 2022 will be serving time in federal prison.

Former Crawford County sheriff’s Deputy Levi White was sentenced to 63 months on Wednesday, with credit for time served, and ordered that he be confined at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, according to court documents.

A judge recommended that White receive medical health counseling and treatment while confined at the facility in Springfield, Missouri, and be put on two years of supervised release.

White in April pleaded guilty to a felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law during the Aug. 21, 2022, arrest of Randal Worcester outside a convenience store.

On Thursday, 28-year-old former deputy Zackary King was sentenced to 12 months in federal prison followed by one year of supervised release for his role in the incident.

A bystander used a cellphone to record the arrest in the small town of Mulberry, about 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, near the border with Oklahoma. Video of the arrest was shared widely online.

A third officer caught in the video, Mulberry Police Officer Thell Riddle, was not charged in the federal case. King and White were fired by the Crawford County sheriff. The video depicted King and White striking Worcester as Riddle held him down. White also slammed Worcester’s head onto the pavement.

Police have said Worcester was being questioned for threatening a clerk at a convenience store in the nearby small town of Alma when he tackled one of the deputies and punched him in the head before the arrest. Worcester is set to go to trial in February on charges related to the arrest, including resisting arrest and second-degree battery.

Worcester filed a lawsuit in 2022 against the three officers, the city of Mulberry and Crawford County over the arrest. But that case has been put on hold while the criminal cases related to the arrest are ongoing.

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