Rough arrest seen on video; Coral Springs police say force was justified

Coral Springs, Florida – A man seemingly with his hands up was turned around and then pushed to the ground in a rough police takedown caught on cellphone video early Thursday morning in Coral Springs.

Officers even launch a punch, which concerned witness Seth Wolfe, the man shooting the video.

“There was a few more seconds where you realize that they were kind of trying to push him and detain him even though he wasn’t moving, he wasn’t resisting and that’s when you see him taking that blow with his knee straight into his back as he was detained,” Wolfe tells Local 10 News.

The incident happened around 4 a.m. Thursday at the Sabal Pointe Apartments on West Sample Road near NW 120th Avenue.

Two officers are seen using physical force as the man lays on the ground.

The man in cuffs is Christopher Nobles, 38, who police say was the focus of a domestic violence call. The confrontation happened during an apparent traffic stop.

Department brass has reviewed these images, police bodyworn camera footage and the arrest report detailing the early-morning arrest. Their determination is that no policies or procedures appear to have been broken.

“Encountered a subject who was non-compliant with our verbal commands and became physical and attempted to strike one of our officers with an elbow,” says Deputy Chief Bradley McKeone of the Coral Springs Police Department.

McKeone said the department takes these types of complaints very seriously, which is why they reviewed it right away.

“When I look at the video, I see an unfortunate situation that could have been avoided if [the suspect] would have just complied with officers,” McKeone says. “I see officers that are using de-escalation as much as they can. They are trying to verbally diffuse the situation. Ultimately, at some point, they have to do their jobs.”

Nobles is being held in jail on several charges including battery, drug paraphernalia possession, resisting officers without violence and driving on a revoked license.

The witness, Wolfe, said that from his vantage point the officers’ actions appeared excessive.

“This is disgusting,” Wolfe said. “This is not how you treat anyone, regardless of the traffic stop or whatever violation. We can do better as a society, especially as a police force.”