Second former Arkansas officer pleads guilty to civil rights charge in violent arrest caught on video

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – A second former Arkansas law enforcement officer has pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of a man he repeatedly struck during a violent 2022 arrest that was captured on video and widely shared.

Former Crawford County sheriff’s deputy Levi White changed his plea during a hearing in federal court on Friday, court records show. White pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of deprivation of rights under the color of law during the arrest of Randal Worcester on August 21, 2022, outside a convenience store.

White and another former deputy, Zackary King, were charged by federal prosecutors last year in the arrest. A bystander used a cell phone to record the arrest in the small town of Mulberry, about 140 miles northwest of Little Rock, near the Oklahoma border. King pleaded guilty Monday to one felony count of deprivation of rights under the color of law.

A third officer caught in the video, Mulberry Police Officer Thell Riddle, was not charged in the federal case. King and White were fired by the Crawford County Sheriff. The video showed King and White punching Worcester as Riddle held him back. White also hit Worcester’s head on the pavement.

A trial was scheduled for White and King next month before the two changed their pleas. Sentencing hearings will take place at a later date. White faces up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

Police have said that Worcester was being questioned for threatening a grocery store clerk in the nearby town of Alma when he attacked one of the deputies and hit him in the head before the arrest. Worcester will appear in court in July on charges related to the arrest, including resisting arrest and second-degree battery.

Worcester filed a lawsuit against the three officers, the city of Mulberry and Crawford County in 2022 over the arrest. But that case has been put on hold while criminal cases related to the arrest are still pending.