VICE News is closely watching policing in America. Check out the Officer Involved blog here.Video taken from a Virginia police officer's body camera shows him using pepper spray and employing a Taser on a man sitting in a car who appears almost non-responsive. At the time, the man was reportedly having a stroke.The footage released on Friday reveals Fredericksburg officer Shaun Jurgens and another officer approaching a vehicle stopped in the middle of an intersection on May 4 after the vehicle was involved in what was reported as a hit-and-run accident. Someone yells at the driver, later identified as 34-year-old David Washington, to move his car.When Washington barely responds, Jurgens shoots the taser but does not connect with him. The officer then pepper sprays Washington. The police continue to yell at him to get out of the car, eventually opening the door and pulling him onto the pavement to cuff him. As this is happening, Washington says "I can't breathe."After he's cuffed, his car begins rolling backwards. The female officer repeatedly yells "Stop it" as she rushes to the car, which appears to stop when one tire hits Washington. Jurgens says, "It's on his foot." The officers then move the car.Washington eventually communicates that he has been sick for days. Jurgens ask him a series of questions as they wait for an ambulance.According to WTOP, the 34-year-old veered into the middle of the road after hitting another vehicle, then came to a stop at the intersection where the officers approached him. WTOP reported that Jurgens thought Washington may have been drinking or taking drugs. In the video, the cops question him about a beer in the backseat of his car.An internal investigation by the police department determined that Jurgens had used inappropriate force; he resigned on May 14. Jurgens said in a statement on Thursday that he believed at the time "immediate action" was needed. According to Jurgens, the suspect was moving inside of the vehicle; he cited rush-hour traffic and proximity to an elementary school as justifications for his action.On Friday, however, Fredericksburg Police Captain Rick Pennock said Jurgens's use of force was not in line with department policy or training."We take matters such as these very seriously and require that officers at all times exercise appropriate restraint and good judgment in their dealings with citizens," Pennock said.According to the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, Washington had suffered a stroke that day and was treated at the hospital. Police have not said whether Corporal Matt Deschenes and Sergeant Crystal Hill, the other officers seen in the video, will face discipline.
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