Man Gets Punched in the Face Repeatedly During a “Welfare Check”

In Clarksburg, West Virginia, a woman called police for a welfare check after seeing a man in apparent distress on the sidewalk. Shortly afterwards numerous police officers surrounded the man, and decided to detain him. When the man didn’t want to be handcuffed, officers “assisted him to the ground.” Then Officer Elijah Helsley of the Clarksburg Police Department repeatedly punched the man in the face, among other things. The woman who had previously called police was shocked at what she was witnessing, and began filming with her phone. She shared the video on Facebook, after which it ended up on the local news, as well as the subject of a song.

The criminal complaint / police report:

Cop Slams Disabled Senior Citizen Over Bicycle Law – Other Cops Laugh and High-Five

On February 17, 2025 at around 9pm at night, a disabled senior citizen named Danny Winklman was riding his bicycle through a neighborhood in St. Augustine, Florida. He had a run of bad luck. He had been hospitalized with serious medical issues, and as a result was evicted, leaving him homeless. All he wanted was a meal, and he was on his way home to fix himself something to eat. But a local St. Johns County Sheriff’s Deputy saw that his bicycle was not equipped with lights. Within seconds, the officer would slam the elderly man to the asphalt for “not listening” to him. Was that justified?

Danny’s GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/a4914e7a

Jeff Gray’s interview of Danny at the site: https://youtu.be/AbRkYsjc638?si=Dl2zmrRlJr9u3TlS Jeff Gray’s original video on the incident: https://youtu.be/hCrNtTdNdu8?si=TakQd4iv0jLIDE7y

The bicycle law:

11th Circuit case law noting that the charged crime is not sufficiently serious to warrant a violent takedown: