Philadelphia Police Officer Charged For Slamming Handcuffed Man Into Pool

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A Philadelphia police officer has been charged after being caught on video slamming a handcuffed man into a side of a pool.

Police say Officer James Yeager, 26, has been charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment and other related charges.

The incident happened on July 10 around midnight on the 200 block of East Elkhart Street.

Police say Yeager was attempting to arrest a man who was actively resisting arrest by swinging his arms and kicking.

According to police, cellphone video captured Yeager in full uniform grabbing the man after he was handcuffed and forcibly slamming him to the ground.

Additional video shows Yeager placing his baton around the man's chest, picking him up and swinging him around, causing the suspect to strike his head against the side of a pool in the street, police said in a news release.

The suspect was then taken to Temple University Hospital for critical injuries.

The Fraternal Order of Police is defending Yeager, warning people not to rush to judgement over the video, because it may not show all of what lead up to this incident.

The FOP adds the man being arrested was resisting and officers were trying to arrest him for a drug-related offense.

Yeager was fired last August.