VALDOSTA, Ga. (WALB) - Valdosta Police Department is investigating the conduct of an officer after a video from an incident recorded on a neighbor’s Ring camera Tuesday, May 19, was posted on social media.

On Wednesday afternoon, Mara Capistran, who is the neighbor who captured the video, filed a formal complaint with the Valdosta Police Department’s Office of Professional standards.

“The way that he handled that situation was very wrong. It could have been approached in a different manner. The fact that he was aggressive with him like that was uncalled for,” she said.

WALB requested a copy of the complaint along with the body and dash camera footage, but due to the ongoing investigation, VPD said they were not able to provide that.

The video shows a VPD officer pulling up in a marked car behind a man in his driveway. The two have a brief conversation before the officer gets out of his vehicle and forcefully grabs the man by the arm to confront him. Police have not confirmed why the officer followed the man or why the officer confronted him.

Capistran said at the time of the video, she and her children were in the car. When her neighbor was pulled back to his vehicle by the officer, Capistran said she heard the officer tell the man he failed to use a turn signal at the stop sign down the road. Later, a young woman appears to come out of the house speaking with the man and the officer.

“I felt like it was something I needed to do because of the fact that the people don’t know English, and wrong is wrong. Something should have been said because, to me, they wouldn’t have stood up for themselves,” she said.

Merry Huerta, an advocate in the Hispanic community, said it is common for young people to serve as translators as many older people are still learning English, being that Spanish is their native language.

“I do believe that addressing these issues requires a systematic change in a commitment to ensuring that all communities are treated fairly respectfully by law enforcement. So I believe we should all be treated equally,” Huerta said.

On Thursday morning, VPD posted this statement on their Facebook page:

“The Valdosta Police Department has become aware of a video currently circulating on social media involving one of our officers. VPD began a review of the incident since the moment we became aware. Yesterday afternoon, a formal complaint was filed with our Office of Professional Standards, and an internal affairs investigation has been initiated. The VPD takes all complaints against any of our employees seriously, and we will thoroughly investigate the complaint and incident.”

At this time, we have not been given the name of the officer under investigation.

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