Phoenix police were responding to a call about a white man creating a disturbance at a Circle K when they confronted a 34-year-old Black man instead, punching, tasering and arresting him on assault charges, accusing him of refusing their commands.
But Tyron McAlpin is deaf and has cerebral palsy, indicating he not only could not hear their commands but has a disability that would limit his ability to fight. And body camera footage shows they did not even give him a chance to comply, attacking him within two seconds of pulling up to him in a patrol car.
The real suspect was a white man named Derek Stevens, but when an officer spoke with him, the 33-year-old man claimed he was the victim, not the aggressor, telling the cop he had been attacked by a Black man who stole his phone.
Meanwhile another Phoenix police officer was interviewing the store clerks who had called them and were told that Stevens was the one creating the disturbance because he had walked into the store that morning claiming somebody had stolen his phone the previous evening.