A video showing a confrontation between police and a Walmart customer over a $5 pizza has gone viral, sparking outrage on social media and conversations about the use of force by police officers.
The incident, which occurred on June 1 at a Kansas City Walmart, was recorded and posted to TikTok on June 2 and shows Dayton Borisouth, 24, get pinned down by security officers who questioned whether he paid for a frozen pizza.
Here’s everything we know about what happened – and how the police department is responding.
Borisouth says he tried to show officers his receipt
Borisouth told USA TODAY his uncle had called him from the Walmart asking for a hand jump-starting his car, which had died in the parking lot. Borisouth, who remodels houses for a living, had just gotten off of work and was shirtless due to the hot weather, a detail he believes played a role in the officers’ decision to approach him. While waiting for the car to start back up, Borisouth decided to run inside the store and grab a frozen pizza to take home to his family for dinner.
“I thought I’d be out quick, just in and out. That’s why I didn’t care that my shirt was off,” said Borisouth. “I went inside, got the frozen pizza, called my wife and said ‘hey, don’t cook dinner, I’m purchasing this pizza right now.’”
Borisouth paid for the pizza at self-checkout and opted not to put it in a bag to avoid waste, instead putting the receipt in his pocket before heading towards this exit. This was when he first noticed an officer stationed in the store “staring” at him.
Borisouth said the officer made initial contact as he walked past to get to the exit, allegedly asking: “Got your receipt?” to which Borisouth said he answered “yes” before continuing toward the door. That was when he noticed the officer coming toward him in the reflection of the glass doors.
“As I stepped through the sliding doors, he jumped in front of me, flipped me around to where my back was to him and pushed me into the machine in that corner,” he said. This is when bystanders began recording the interaction on their phones.
‘She stole that moment from me’:Video shows principal deny grad diploma for dancing on stage
His uncle, bystanders capture the confrontation in videos
Two videos posted by Borisouth’s wife, Viviana Borisouth, show what happened next from two different angles. In both, police can be seen struggling to pin Borisouth to the ground near the store’s entrance as he exclaims “I didn’t do anything!” Customers and employees begin to gather around the commotion.
“I didn’t show him my receipt!” Borisouth answers a bystander asking him questions. “It’s in my (expletive) pocket.”
The officer and Borisouth continue to grapple, rolling on the ground as more people arrive including Borisouth’s uncle, Christopher Enloe, who recorded his nephew while telling him to stay calm and comply. Borisouth repeats multiple times that the receipt is in his pocket and yells for the officer to read it.
At one point, he pulls the receipt out and throws it on the ground, insisting the officer look at it. The officer ignores the receipt and pushes Borisouth’s face into the ground as two more officers arrive, piling on top and pulling Borisouth’s arms behind his back. One officer can be heard threatening to break his nose. At multiple points in the video, officers are seen using their hands to place pressure onto Borisouth’s neck.
“That’s not necessary!” bystanders can be heard yelling. As officers pick Borisouth up off the ground and lead him away, the woman responsible for one of the videos picks the receipt up and hands it to other responding officers.
Borisouth said he was detained after the video ended and sat in the back of a police car for about an hour until a police captain reviewed surveillance footage and confirmed he had paid for the pizza. While he was released on the scene, he was told he was being issued a ticket for “not following remand.”
Police respond on Facebook, say techniques are ‘not approved’
A Facebook post later made by the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department identified the first policeman who made contact with Borisouth as an off-duty officer working security for the Walmart store. The post says the leveled charge for “hindering an investigation” was dropped and that an internal investigation “concluded that one of the responding officers employed techniques that are not approved, nor trained, by the Department.” While the post says two of the officers involved would be disciplined and subject to further training, details about the officers’ identities and said discipline and training were not released.
The KCKPD did not immediately respond to request for comment. Walmart declined to provide comment.
“I’m pretty sure they were hoping it’d be dropped there,” said Borisouth, who is in contact with a lawyer. “But this is something I just can’t let slide because, if I do, who knows if another person will get injured worse or even killed?”
Mexico hotel deaths:Authorities investigating after American couple found dead at resort near Cabo
Commenters express outrage on social media
While the statement released by the department said that all officers involved would be held accountable, social media users have been less than forgiving. Comments on the department’s Facebook post and the TikTok videos largely express anger over the incident, with many criticizing the use of knees on Borisouth’s back and hands on his neck.
“You guys better sue. No one deserves this kind of treatment,” said one TikTok commenter.
“The knee on the back of his neck when he was face down with three guys on top of him made me gasp,” said another.
“Your officers are without honor,” one commenter said underneath the police department’s Facebook post.
Borisouth said he was thankful for the video evidence.
“(Without the videos) people would be like ‘oh, he’s a shirtless dude with blue hair, he’s probably starting some bad stuff,’ ” he said.
