Georgia deputy body-slams man, fractures his skull, and arrests him after mistaking him for a burglar. Viral dashcam footage prompts a second review.

Tyler Canaris reportedly took to a Georgia road in the early hours of March 4, 2022, keen to walk to work. Instead of reaching his destination, Canaris got worked over by a Paulding County sheriff's deputy, who mistook the 30-year-old for a burglar.

Dash camera footage of the interaction has recently gone viral, prompting greater scrutiny of Canaris' bone-breaking arrest and his subsequent obstruction charges. The Facebook page belonging to the sheriff's office has been deluged with critical comments and calls for rectification.

What are the details?

Around 6 a.m. on March 4, Paulding County Sheriff's Deputy Michael McMaster was responding to a call of a suspicious person breaking into vehicles in the Evans Mill subdivision in Dallas, Georgia, reported WAGA.

Sgt. Ashley Henson with the PCSO stated, "When deputies responded to that area, they made contact with a person matching the description."

A dashcam video of the interaction shows Canaris walking along the side of the road when the deputy zeroes in with high beams and stops his progress.

"Let's see your hands," says McMaster.

Canaris, listening to headphones, appears confused. Upon realizing he is being issued orders, he takes out an earbud in time to hear the deputy demand that he keep his hands out of his pockets and that he also ought to take off his backpack.

"You're being detained," says the deputy, grabbing Canaris' right arm and beginning to pull the man's backpack off.

"Excuse me, what am I doing wrong? ... Can you explain this?" asks Canaris, noting that he is simply headed to work.

McMaster marches Canaris over to the hood of his cruiser and indicates that he matches the description of someone breaking into cars.

Canaris gesticulates as he tells the deputy he hasn't broken into any cars, then McMaster body-slams him against the pavement.

McMaster later stated, "Tyler was making movements with his hands I was unable to see due to the lack of sunlight; my blue/white lights were extremely bright as well. ... Tyler again attempted to loosen my grip and tried to turn around to face me. I still have not patted Tyler down for weapons at this point. Tyler's left hand went towards his waist band, out of my view. I then gained control of Tyler and escorted him to the ground to better control him."

Suffering multiple brone fractures, Canaris groans in pain, while McMaster calls him a "dumb bastard."

When Canaris complains of the pain, another deputy repeatedly tells him to "shut the f*** up."

Amid his cries, Canaris reiterates, "I was just going to work," to which McMaster, rifling through his detainee's belongings, replies, "Act like a f***ing man."

After digging through Canaris' bag, McMaster appears exasperated, at which time he tells Canaris to "relax," noting to the other deputy, "He hit his head pretty good."

Canaris was rushed to a hospital with a skull fracture and a clavicle fracture. Since he still had an earbud in his left ear when he hit the ground, court documents indicated his ear was also injured.

Canaris was ultimately charged with obstruction of an officer, a misdemeanor charge. McMaster, meanwhile, reportedly went back into service right afterward.

Sgt. Henson noted that in the wake of the video's wide circulation, the PCSO decided "to get the GBI involved and let them look at it and get their unbiased third party opinion on what took place, and if there were any criminal actions that took place in that incident."

"We're aware of the optics of this incident. At this point, because we've turned the case over to the GBI, and there is pending potential civil litigation in the case, we're going to opt not to elaborate on that portion of the case," added Henson.

Here is the full video of the encounter:

Tyler Canaris 03/04/2022 noneditedyoutu.be

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