The Lyon County Sheriff's Office is responding to videos shared several times across at least 11 of their Facebook posts from people claiming one of their deputies berated a man and arrested him without cause.
In the videos, one posted to the YouTube account of Edward jr. Crafton, and another posted by the account Accountability For All, a deputy can be seen pulling up to a man who is pushing a bicycle towards apartments.
He tells the man, whom he identifies as James and the Sheriff's Office later identified as James Gresham, to approach him and put down the bike before telling him to get on the ground and put his hands behind his back. Gresham complies, but repeatedly shouts that he has done nothing wrong and asks to speak to the deputy's supervisor.
The deputy is loud back to Gresham, often using expletives as he addresses him. Gresham is handcuffed and eventually placed into the back of a Sheriff's Office car and arrested. LCSO Records show he was booked for resisting a peace officer.
The incident happened, according to a time stamp on the video, on September 14 of last year just after 9 p.m.
Many of those sharing the videos or commenting on their contents live outside Nevada according to information available on their Facebook profiles.
In a statement released Sunday, Lyon County Sheriff Brad Pope said the videos do not tell the full story of what happened.
The incident began when the deputy responded to what appeared to be an open or uncontrolled fire near an apartment building, according to the Sheriff's statement.
As the deputy was assessing the situation with the fire, he saw a man leaving on a bicycle. The statement categorizes the area the deputy responded to as a high crime area that has had 150 calls for service, 80 of those for criminal complaints.
"The Deputy returned to his patrol vehicle and drove around into the parking lot shared another complex, in an attempt to locate the subject based on his obvious flight from a high crime area upon the arrival/sight of law enforcement," said the statement from Sheriff Pope.
When the deputy located Gresham and asked that Gresham come to him, Gresham complied but was agitated and yelling at the deputy, the statement says.
Gresham has a history of resisting arrest, according to the Sheriff's Office.
In the records the Sheriff's Office provided, two prior arrests included the charge of resisting a public officer. He was booked on that same charge for a third time in the September incident.
He is also the suspect in a number of crimes committed in Fernley according to the Sheriff's Office, which provided his arrest record.
In his statement, Sheriff Pope says he takes full responsibility for the deputy's behavior.
"I have made it clear, to my Deputies and to the Community, that the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office will aggressively pursue those that choose a life of crime over our quality of life," said Sheriff Pope in his statement. "Our Deputy was acting within the mission and direction that I want all of our Deputies to abide by. Was there foul language used? Absolutely. The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office expects our Deputies to act professional at all times, there is a time and a place for such language to gain compliance from a suspect. The Deputy in the video knows this as well, and acts accordingly."
You can read Sheriff Pope's full statement below.
