ROCK HILL, S.C. — Editor's Note: On July 8, the charge against Travis Price was dropped, and the Rock Hill Police Department announced one of the police officers involved had been fired. The announcements were made the same day the York County Solicitor's Office released bodycam videos showing the viral arrest.
Original reporting continues below.
After a video showing Rock Hill police officers arrest brothers Ricky Price and Travis Price went viral, Rock Hill Police placed two offers on administrative leave. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) has been called in to conduct a formal investigation.
"There was so much scuffling and so much contortion off-camera that was not seen," said Dr. Norma Gray, President of the Rock Hill chapter of the NAACP, "Let me repeat [that] it's not seen on the Facebook footage."
Rashard Barber, who lives just a few hundred feet away from the gas station on Willowbrook Avenue where the incident happened, told WCNC that he watched it all happen.
"It’s hard to figure out who’s in the wrong [and] right when punches start being thrown by the officers," said Barber, adding that both sides could have done things differently to prevent an escalation, "If the guy could have just kind of remained calm [and] not fed too much into the video.”
Attorney Justin Bamburg is representing the Price brothers. Ricky Price is still in police custody. He is charged with multiple drug and gun charges. His brother, Travis Price, faces a lesser charge of hindering police and was released Thursday on bond.
“It’s about the underlying principle of why – time and time again – we have to see this level of force used on people that look like us," said Bamburg at a press conference following the bond hearings, "It blows my mind.”
As the investigation unfolds, a clerk at the gas station outside of which the arrests happened told WCNC that the building does have security cameras. The clerk said both law enforcement and the defense team for the Price brothers picked up that footage.
The SLED investigation is still in its early stages, said SLED spokesperson Tommy Crosby, but agents have been dispatched.