SWANSEA, Ill. — A man is in custody and three officers are recovering after they were all injured following a traffic stop. But this time officers insist he did it to himself.
"We counted on the video, it was 106 times he bashed his head and during that he tried to wrap his head around a seatbelt," said Swansea Police Chief Steven Johnson.
It happened around 2 a.m. Monday. Officers with the Swansea Illinois police department said they smelled marijuana, checked the car and moved to arrest a man inside, but they say before they could get him in handcuffs, he fought all four officers.
"It's pretty dramatic watching several of your officers rolling around on the ground on concrete fighting an individual and there's no doubt in my mind that they probably sustained more injuries because of that extra effort to deescalate and not hurt him," said Chief Johnson.
Pictures posted to social media show just how serious the scuffle was. Three of chief Johnson's officers visibly injured.
"My female officer sustained a hematoma on her forehead from it was elbows and punches another officer had a very large bruise," said Chief Johnson.
Officials say the self-harm was perhaps the most alarming part.
Charging documents identifying the man seen on dashcam footage as Christopher Douglas of O'Fallon Illinois. The bruises on his face showed the proof of the night's chaos.
"I don't want to shame him, I don't mean it like that. So many would say law enforcement caused the injuries to his head, and we have video that clearly shows that he hurt three or four of the officers and he was barely injured until he did it to himself," said Chief Johnson.
Douglas was charged with being in possession of a firearm, possession of meth with intent to distribute and resisting a police officer.
The rest of the video is being withheld to not interfere with the investigation.