SMITHFIELD – Police Chief Pete Hedrick announced late-Friday he has requested the Johnston County District Attorney’s Office review the arrest of a suspect after video of the incident surfaced on social media.
Terrence Derrall Ellis (aka Terrence Derrail Ellis) of Wilson was arrested around 2:35am today (Friday) in the parking lot of the Amazon warehouse at 2095 W. Market Street.
Video reportedly taken by an eyewitness appears to show a policeman punch Ellis in the face while the officer is on top of the suspect.
Ellis was charged with felony fleeing to elude arrest, felony assault causing physical injury on a law enforcement officer, driving on a revoked license from a previous DWI conviction, resisting a public officer, driving while impaired, and possession of a controlled substance on jail premises. He was given a $15,000 bond.
“The Smithfield Police Department is accredited through CALEA and has policies in place that will ensure a complete review of the arrest and use of force. The Smithfield Police Department has requested the District Attorney review the matter. The District Attorney will be provided all evidence connected to this case to include the officers in car camera which captured the entirety of the incident. We ask that citizens allow the legal system to investigate this incident and not rely on partial videos on social media,” Chief Hedrick stated.
Chief Hedrick said Ellis was seen by EMS but refused treatment.
Original Facebook video available here. Caution graphic language
District Attorney Susan Doyle confirmed she has requested the entire dash cam video as well as the video recordings from all Amazon parking lot cameras. Police are in the process of retrieving all of those recordings and will provide them to the District Attorney for review.
Prior Traffic Stop
eCourt records indicate Terrence Ellis was stopped on August 13, 2024 by Smithfield Police on W. Market Street and issued citations for driving on a revoked license and a window tint violation. Those charges are still pending in Johnston County District Court.
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This story has been updated
“Ellis was charged with felony fleeing to elude arrest, felony assault causing physical injury on a law enforcement officer, driving on a revoked license from a previous DWI conviction, resisting a public officer, driving while impaired, and possession of a controlled substance on jail premises. ”
Some thugs never learn.
People just need to be solid keep your opinions to their self cuz you never know what a person is going through stop screamingate on others thugs really what is your definition of thugs please just don’t say nothing about nothing if you don’t have any positive to say
Telling someone to keep their opinion to themselves while expressing one’s opinion.
Sorry Tetee39, the last time I checked this is still America and if someone wants to give an opinion, then they have the right to so and thanks to JOCO Report they help us with that. With that said thug, thug, thug, now what?
Sorry, but all of us are going through something right now and it doesn’t give any of us the right to run from police putting other people’s lives in danger. That’s that criminal thinking to justify it and make excuses for it. Accountability has been lost in this country and if there’s no Accountability, there’s no order. The majority want safe streets and communities. Accountability starts in the home.
So many ppl got their opinions but some ppl needs to just be silent an not heard no body knows what a person is going through so stop calling ppl names an sit down somewhere thats not even cool stop the discrimination thugs really smh
Please Go back to grade school and learn some grammar .
It doesn’t matter what he’s going through – it doesn’t give you a right to break traffic laws, carry dope, run from the police, and fight with the police.
There was no need to punch this guy. That video was long enough to see that he did nothing during those couple minutes to get punched in the face. Looks like a big settlement is coming this man’s way
It will be interesting to compare the “official” PD dashcams and officer cams with this public video….. oh wait, the public isn’t allowed to see the PD cam videos. Thanks NC Legislature! #rulesForTheeButNotForMe
Stop lying. The body cam and dash cam are available after a judge authorizes it. We see them all the time.
Not even remotely close to being true. HB972 explicitly states that police body cam footage IS NOT PUBLIC RECORD. The law says:
“recordings made by law enforcement agencies are not public records.”
You can thank Tim Moore & Phil Berger for ramming that through the house. #LearnTheLaw
Once again, reading and comprehension are two different things. Body and dash cam footage are released to the public by a judges signature and they can then be viewed by the anyone in the general public. Public record has absolutely nothing to do with it but you’re attempting to obfuscate by throwing around a term you don’t understand. I do thank Moore and Berger for this referenced law and sadly, I thank the “public” education system for your ignorance. #learnthewrittenword
The fact that you don’t understand what a public record tells me you are a product of the NC public education system.
A public record means that, by default, the public has a right to view the material. Judges can deny this on a case-by-case basis.
Police videos are the exact opposite. By default, the public CANNOT view them. Only judges can overrule this on a case-by-case basis.
See the difference?
So you are not lying just ignorant.
With all those charges…. he definitely “was going thru something” but every action gets a reaction. He deserved what he got. I said what I said. Break the law…..there is a price you pay.
The guy was unarmed & was not a threat. It do not give any right to a police officer to punch him. Clearly you didn’t see the full video & I work out there.
Resisting arrest?
It’s amazing…. I bet if he wasn’t driving drunk he wouldnt have been in that predicament….. charged with felony flee to elude….. see blue lights or better yet, any emergency vehicle with lights/siren activated…. Move over and slow down to stop…. Captain obvious would know that. So annoyed with these thugs and criminals acting like they are tough but when they get caught cry wolf like a baby….. please put this punk in prison before they kill someone by driving drunk… obviously charging him isn’t the answer.
If can’t comply with simple questions and resort to fighting back or being really physically with basic questions with multiple violations on previous arrests you have it coming.
Actions expresses a man’s behavior
The use of force continuem starts with officer presence, then verbal deescalation, Once a crime has been committed, which you can easily see from his charges That several Laws were Broken before this confrontation. Then soft hands then if still non-compliant it goes to pepper spray or “hard hands” . Unfortunately, this guy continues not to comply with demands and commands for him to put his hands behind his back and stop resisting. The officer decided to use hard hands, he certainly could have pepper sprayed him in the face or stood up and tased him, but with him already showing aggression and from fleeing I’m sure he didn’t want to give up his position. When you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. That’s just how I see it, I don’t care if they guys black white hispanic, it’s not a racial thing… I’m just glad that there’s folks out there still willing to do the job of a police officer even though everyone likes to Monday morning quarterback, and most people here wouldn’t Know how to handle this situation and possibly get themselves or others hurt. all he had to do was comply, or try to bait the officer into doing some thing to try to get a settlement.
Driving is a privilege. His license were revoked for some reason. He thought it was a joke and decided to drive anyway. Lock him up keep him there.
As a soldier I couldn’t fire upon the enemy unless they were firing at me it doesn’t matter if he just blew up a f**king building I didn’t see a treat that was mounted and on the ground. No reason to hit him control your emotions that wasn’t a threat! I’m a black man that lives in this f**king county.
Apples vs Orange my man. Closed hand strikes (punches) are absolutely justified and are a taught, effective stunning technique still today in basic. What the h*ll does being a black man that lives in this country have to do with a criminal being controlled and arrested?! Racist much?
Nice haymaker by the officer.
Wow, once again everyone is defending the suspect. The police have a right to punch people just as much as the suspect can choose to punch them as well. It is taught in training that punching a suspect is a stunning technique and completely acceptable. As long as the suspect was still not complying the officer can use force to get them under arrest. However, if you train with Ju Jitsu or other types of martial arts you maybe be able to avoid these situations. Use of forces are never pretty but judging by this video it’s not excessive force at all. Excessive force would have been punching him repeatedly over and over back to back without stopping. They were assessing the situation throughout the whole incident. I commend them for not letting their emotions get the best of them. I am still baffled as a whole how the citizens want police officers to handle a suspect that refusing to be arrested? Are they suppose to just keep asking them nicely, please sir or ma’am stop and please put on these handcuffs yourself. #takeresponsiblity
Shame on you JoCo Report for even reporting this with a video that did not show the entire interaction. This is why police don’t have anyone’s support because the media prints half the story.