John “LJ” Scott Jr.‘s death is sparking outrage … with new video of his arrest appearing to show police dragging him across the ground in a police station.
If you don’t know … Scott died on April 22, about a week after he was taken into custody by Decatur Police in Alabama on April 15 — with cops saying he suffered a medical emergency and passed away in the hospital.
Police reportedly arrived at an apartment complex on April 15, where they say they found Scott “sweating heavily and exhibiting erratic behavior.”
4/15/2025Decatur Police Department
Officers were responding to a 911 call from Scott’s mother, who reported he was experiencing a “mental health crisis,” according to NBC News. Body cam footage shows cops unsuccessfully attempting to coax Scott into an ambulance before they say he became “combative” … leading to his arrest.
The footage shows the officers eventually wrestle him to the ground — with the help of a Taser — and haul him off to Morgan County Jail … where video from inside the station appears to show Scott lying on the ground, surrounded by cops. Decatur Police tell TMZ Scott “was arrested on an outstanding Morgan County Failure to Appear warrant.”
It’s hard to see him … but you can see what looks like his blue shirt through cracks in the assembled crowd — and, it appears he’s being dragged across the floor and out of frame.
Scott’s family’s attorney, civil rights lawyer S. Lee Merritt, says shortly after this video was taken, Scott had a medical emergency and was rushed to the hospital, where he ultimately passed.
We’re told the family believes LJ was not resisting cops, but was instead unresponsive — and possibly even unconscious — and desperately needed medical attention.
Instead of helping him, Merritt says, cops dragged him by his feet into a jail cell and left him without any medical care. He adds that this was a “violation of LJ’s constitutional and human rights” … and, he demands accountability.
Worth noting, DPD acknowledges that “medical and mental health struggles compounded by suspected drug-induced psychosis” played a factor in the events that occurred … while his family has maintained the issue was purely a mental health episode and say cops should’ve handled the situation differently.
Decatur Police Chief Nadis E. Carlisle originally said Scott was “placed in a cell by Morgan County jail staff after some difficulty, due to his size and passive resistance.” It’s unclear what they mean by “passive resistance.”
The Decatur Police Department tells TMZ the investigation is being handled by the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, and they referred us to the department’s Facebook statement about the incident.
