ALLENTOWN, Pa. (WLVT) - Allentown police officers acted appropriately in restraining a man in an encounter that was captured on video and sparked protests.
That was the conclusion reached by Allentown Police Chief Glenn Granitz Jr. and Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin.
Granitz and Martin each on Friday released their findings resulting from investigations by both agencies.
Granitz said he found no basis on which to discipline the officers. Martin said he found no evidence that supported filing criminal charges against either of the officers.
"The restraint was reasonable," Martin said in a prepared statement.
The man in the video, 37-year-old Edward Borrero Jr., of Allentown, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.
The investigations came after a video of the encounter Saturday outside St. Luke's Sacred Heart Campus went viral on social media. It ignited protests in Allentown and calls for the officers to be disciplined or fired.
The video shows police trying to handcuff Borrero after taking him to the ground. One of the officers uses his leg and knee pressed near Borrero's head and neck.
We spoke with Justan Parker, organizer of Black Lives Matter Lehigh Valley, about the incident and the Allentown Police Department's use-of-force policy.
"It is exactly that, a use-of-force policy. And they will continue to use force and get away with it in the city of Allentown," he said.
Martin said the officer's knee was on Borrero's head, not his neck, as the officer tried to immobilize Borrero. Granitz also said the officer didn't place his knee on the man's neck.
"I would like to reiterate that at no time did either police officer place their knee on the neck of the individual in this incident," Granitz said in a prepared statement. "There was never a point when a chokehold was applied to this individual."
Neither Martin nor Granitz released the officers' names. Martin said it would be improper to do so because they were subjects of an investigation and were not criminally charged.
Click on the video player below to watch today's full story from PBS39's Ben Stemrich.