Bodycam video shows suspect bite down on Sarasota police officers hand
By: A 36-year-old Sarasota man is facing several felony charges after police say he bit down on one officer and spat on another officer as they arrested him.
The Sarasota Police Department released body camera footage of the incident, which appears to show Darryl Williams struggling with officers before biting into an officer’s hand. Later, Williams spits on an officer, according to a press release.
Williams is charged with aggravated battery on a pregnant woman, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence and serious injury, police say. He is being held at the Sarasota County Jail without bond.
The incident began around 5:20 p.m. Saturday after police received a report of a domestic battery situation in the 2800 block of Goodrich Avenue in Sarasota.
When police arrived, a woman who is five weeks pregnant said Williams had “grabbed, pulled and tossed her around her home,” according to a press release.
After putting a warrant out for Williams’ arrest, police identified Williams around 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Express Grocery in the 1400 block of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Way and attempted to arrest him inside the store, police say.
But Williams resisted arrest and police surrounded him in the parking lot, video shows. Officers pinned Williams to the ground and attempted to reach his arm to handcuff him, the police department said.
That’s when Williams bit down on a female officer who tried to pull away “but could not due to the bite’s depth,” according to a news release.
“He’s biting her!” one officer yells.
Body camera footage shows an officer hit Williams in the head until he released the officer’s hand, police said.
The female officer was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where she received stitches for the bite wound, according to an arrest report.
Photos provided by Sarasota police show a bloody wound between the officer’s thumb and index finger.
Williams is also accused of spitting on an officer who tried to place him inside a police vehicle. The name of both officers have been withheld under Marsy’s Law, a Florida law that redacts a victim’s name from public records.
Police say Williams has had several previous run-ins with the law. Since 2003, he has been convicted of 11 misdemeanors and nine felonies.