New bodycam footage shows when police say former city employee injured officer
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Bodycam footage was posted on the Rochester Police YouTube page that shows the moment that police say a former City of Rochester employee pushed and injured a Rochester Police officer.
Anthony Hall, 38, the former City of Rochester employee who pleaded guilty to stealing from a nonprofit in November, now faces an assault charge. This happened in January at an apartment complex on East Main Street. Police responded to reports of family trouble and a possible break-in.
In the footage, a woman calls 911 because she believes her ex, identified as Hall, has broken into her house. Police try to convince Hall to go home, but things escalate.
Hall’s ex says she was clear that he was not wanted there and that she had called the police on him in the past. Several officers repeatedly tell Hall to leave, but he refuses, trying to speak directly to his ex.
In a statement released by the Rochester Police Locust Club, they stated that they took a detailed statement and the resident claimed Hall was drunk. They also stated that they “spoke calmly,” and gave Hall “ample opportunity to explain the situation.”
After Hall is arrested, accused of throwing a punch, Hall flags down an officer while in the back of the squad car. He asks what charges he’s facing and swings his feet to get out of the car. The officer warns him that he needs to get back in or he’ll be pepper sprayed.
Hall does get sprayed and asks to go to the hospital. While there he draws on his Pathways to Peace experience, talking with the officers.
“Somewhere, something went wrong. And we could have did better on it. That’s all I’m saying,” Hall said in the footage.
Hall was booked that night and is set to be in court on assault and the other charges next Monday. That’s also when he’ll be formally sentenced and start serving his time for the grand larceny case.
The Locust club stated that their members on scene “showed incredible patience, professionalism and restraint,” stating they could’ve taken him into custody long before they actually did trying to “de-escalate,” the situation.
They said Hall “declined that opportunity,” and that the physical force used by officers was due to his actions.
Here is the full statement from the Locust Club:
You can watch all eight hours of bodycam footage, showing the initial contact up through his release that night from the hospital, here:
A.I. assisted with the formatting of this story. Click here to see how WHEC News10NBC uses A.I.