Cheyenne Police Release Video Of Officers Subduing Suspect With Baton

The Cheyenne Police Department released a body and dash camera video compilation Monday evening showing a suspect’s alleged taser attack on an officer followed by a roadside brawl, then an officer repeatedly striking the suspect with a baton.

Release of the video comes after an upswell of public outrage over the incident surged on local social media message boards over the weekend, some saying the officers used unnecessary force and others arguing the force was justified in response to the suspect being uncooperative and resisting.

Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday the police tactics in the video, and in another from close-up shot by a family member of the suspect, concern him.

The videos depict a traffic stop at Sixth Street and Russell Avenue involving Yzail Gauna, 26, who was wanted for domestic battery and probation violation, according to a Cheyenne Police Department narrative attached to the compilation.

Gauna reportedly gave a false identification during the stop, rousing the suspicions of officers. The agents tried to get Gauna out of a vehicle in which other adults and a child also sat, without seatbelts, the narrative says.

An officer asked a woman and child to get out of the car and they complied.

The narrative says Gauna started reaching into his pants pocket, allegedly for a knife.

“He became physically violent, pushing the officer and attempting to run away,” says the narrative.

What It Shows

The video opens with a tense encounter in which an officer challenges Gauna over his false identification and the occupants’ lack of seat belts. A toddler reclines on a woman’s shoulder by the car window.

“Ma’am do you mind stepping out for me?” asks an officer.

The woman steps out.

“Stop reaching in your pocket,” says the officer on the shoulder side of the vehicle, to Gauna.

“I’m just gettin’ my phone, sir,” answers Gauna.

The video stills, with a red oval emphasizing imagery of Gauna leaning into the officer with his head down as he emerges from the vehicle. Gauna’s arms move forward against the officer in an apparent shove.

The body camera footage is blurred by the up-close struggle.

A dash camera sitting behind the vehicle captures part of the struggle but the officers and suspect exit toward the right screen edge.

Fight For The Taser

A taser sounds, followed by a man screaming profanities. The dash camera shows an officer holding the suspect in a tenuous hug while the suspect either collapses or struggles to the ground.

“F***, help me help me!” calls a voice, which sounds like the suspect’s voice.

The video stills again, this time with a red circle emphasizing what the narrative says is the officer’s taser, fallen to the ground within Gauna’s reach.

“Gauna grabs the officer’s taser, and uses it against him, driving it into his collarbone,” says the narrative, with the video stilling into a new frame showing the suspect angling something toward the officer’s chest.

The suspect appears to tackle the officer to the ground.

“Gauna holds his right arm under his body and does not release it to officers despite multiple commands,” says the narrative.

The video shows Gauna on the ground with two officers kneeling or crouched over him.

The Baton

One officer starts striking Gauna with a baton while Gauna shouts repeatedly and the women who had been in the car approach, screaming. One woman, holding the toddler on her hip, also holds out her phone as if taking video of the incident.

A third officer joins the fray.

The narrative says the officer’s repeated baton strikes were “targeted” to hit the suspect’s thighs, right triceps and right lat to gain control of Gauna’s right arm and prevent him from reaching for his pocketknife.

The baton strikes continue. One officer shoos the women back.

One woman appears to be screaming for officers to stop.

A female officer emerges from a nearby truck and urges the women back once again.

Officers appear to be maneuvering Gauna, but Gauna himself is blocked from view by the hood of one truck and the rear of another, at the end of the incident.

In Walks A Senator

Bouchard rebuked the use of force in a public comment on the Cheyenne Police Department’s Facebook post of the incident.

“I’m so glad citizens are being targeted for not complying with the wearing of seatbelts as a passenger,” wrote Bouchard, clarifying that he meant the comment as sarcasm.

He later elaborated in a Tuesday interview with Cowboy State Daily, saying the baton tactics could pose an unnecessary liability.

Other commenters thanked the department for releasing the footage and said it provides a contrast to earlier video posted by the suspect’s family showing only the end of the incident.

A posting of the video to the Cheyenne Community Connections page was no longer accessible Tuesday. But Bouchard has a copy of it published on his senator Facebook page.

It shows the latter portion of the incident, in which a bearded officer is seen beating the suspect's right arm while the suspect, whose shirt is pushed up exposing his lower back, tucks his arm farther under his body.

Bouchard urged a different approach than the tactics featured in the video.

"If we don’t do a better job keeping our officers out of federal court and out of these cases where you have excessive force violations, leadership is failing to do their job," said Bouchard.

Besides his earlier warrants, Gauna now faces a felony charge of aggravated assault, says the narrative.

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.