CONWAY -- One of two men arrested by Faulkner County sheriff's deputies in May had his hands "up in the air" before officers pulled him from a car and kicked and struck him repeatedly, the Mayflower police officer who videotaped the arrest wrote in a report.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette obtained the report as well as other documents and videos related to the May 4 arrests of Harvey Martin III, 46, and Christopher Cummings, 29, under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. The arrests followed a high-speed chase marked by repeated gunfire from Mayflower to Conway and have led to a federal civil-rights investigation.

The documents include videotaped interviews with Martin, who was crying as he lay in a bed in a hospital's emergency room; sheriff's deputies who were involved in the arrests; and Mayflower police officer Dalton Elliott, who caught Martin's arrest on a body camera.

Among other documents released were a letter from the FBI and summaries of what Conway Police Department officers reported seeing after they arrived at the arrest scene and of what Martin told officers during the interview.

Authorities have said that after the chase, Cummings and Martin were treated for minor injuries at a Conway hospital and discharged from there.

Cummings, who police say fired the shots during the chase, remains jailed on various charges, including attempted capital murder. Authorities have dismissed the charges against Martin, who was driving the vehicle in which Cummings was a passenger.

Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland said Martin was forced at gunpoint to flee police -- an allegation that Martin also made against Cummings during an emergency-room interview with police.

Conway police officer Todd Wesbecher wrote in a "supplemental narrative" that when he arrived at the arrest scene, he saw a visibly injured and handcuffed Martin being taken to a deputy's vehicle.

"He said, 'Todd, they beat my ass,'" Wesbecher wrote.

In the hospital interview with Wesbecher, Martin told how Cummings, who had a gun, had threatened to kill him, his mother and his son if he didn't keep driving and flee the police.

Martin told Wesbecher that when he first tried to stop for the police, "Cummings smacked him on the head with the gun and told him he would shoot him," Wesbecher related.

Cummings' arrest was a short distance away from Martin's arrest and was not recorded.

Wesbecher said he asked Martin what happened when the vehicle finally stopped in Conway.

"He said, 'I got the hell beat out of me.' He also stated that he had gotten 'tazed.' He said that he threw his hands up in the air and said 'please, please' and he was drug from the vehicle and he 'got the hell beat [out] of him,'" Wesbecher wrote.

"I asked him if he was fighting at all and he said, no sir, I gave in and tried to give them what they want," Wesbecher added.

At one point in the videotaped interview, Wesbecher told Martin, "If you were a victim in that car, I want to know."

Martin replied, "I am a victim."

Another Conway police officer who went to the scene, T.G. Cooper, reported that "a plainclothes deputy" -- Eugene Watlington -- told him, "'You don't want me to interview him [Martin] right now, he is not happy with me right now.' The deputy then shined his flashlight on his boot and laughed."

Watlington can be seen repeatedly kicking Martin in the videotape of the arrest.

The arrests led to the firing of Watlington and to three other deputies being temporarily placed on leave. The FBI also notified the sheriff's office in late July that it, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and the U.S. attorney's office were investigating.

The FBI has declined comment, but Sheriff Matt Rice said the investigation continues.

In a report dated the same day as the chase, Mayflower officer Elliott wrote that he had joined sheriff's deputies in pursuing a white Mustang after they tried to stop it near Interstate 40 in Mayflower. Cummings was wanted on a parole violation, and authorities also had been conducting a narcotics investigation.

Once Elliott arrived in the Conway neighborhood where the men's vehicle had broken down, he said, he learned that Cummings had fled on foot. "I then observed ... Harvey Martin, sitting in the suspect car in the driver seat with both hands up in the air," Elliott wrote.

"Martin was given commands to raise his hands and to exit the vehicle," Elliott added. "I then assisted Deputies [Martin "Sonny"] Clifford and Watlington getting Martin out of the vehicle at gun point."

"Once they pulled Martin from the vehicle, I observed numerous deputies tackling and striking Martin in the body and head with their fists," Elliott wrote.

"Deputy Watlington was at the head of Martin kicking and stomping Martin in the face and head area," Elliott related. "Deputy Sonny Clifford was on Martin's right side hitting and striking him in the face and back of the head."

Elliott said four other deputies were either trying to gain control of Martin, didn't participate in the struggle or struck Martin a few times to gain control of him. One deputy took a knife from Martin's pocket, Elliott said.

"I then witnessed and heard the suspect holler saying 'help me,'" Elliott wrote. "I attempted to pull Deputy Clifford off of Martin by placing my hand on his shoulder. Clifford looked at me and then started hitting Martin in the back of the head numerous times with his fist and at one point kneed him in the back of the head.

"I once again tried to stop Clifford," Elliott added. "I also told [Darrel] Freeman and Watlington to stop kicking the suspect. At that point you can see Watlington look around and then start kicking and stomping Martin in the face with his boot again. I told the parties once again to stop."

Elliott, a former sheriff's deputy, joined the Mayflower Police Department after Andy Shock became Faulkner County's sheriff and did not rehire him, a process that follows a change in sheriffs. Shock resigned from the office in August to take a position on the state Parole Board. Rice has been Faulkner County's sheriff since Sept. 1.

Officers temporarily put on leave were Deputies Bill Kenney, who handled Cummings' arrest; Clifford; and Freeman. Clifford recently lost his job over an unrelated driving-while-intoxicated arrest.

Conway officer Cooper wrote in his narrative that when he arrived at the arrest scene, Elliott "requested that I do something because 'they,' meaning the deputies, were being too rough and kicking the suspect in the head."

"I walked over and made contact with" a deputy, Cooper said. "At this time no one appeared to be physically striking the suspect. I advised him to get the suspect up and into a car."

In a separate report Watlington wrote that Martin was not complying with another officer's commands "to get his hands up" and that Martin "was resisting and would not place his hands behind his back." Watlington said another deputy used a Taser on Martin but that it didn't appear to affect Martin.

There is no phone listing for a Eugene Watlington in Conway area directory assistance, and he could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Martin's attorney, Otto Fry, said he did not want his client talking with a reporter. A number listed by police for Martin was not taking calls Thursday.

State Desk on 01/15/2016