Sikeston official defends officers in violent incident

The acting director of the Sikeston, Missouri, Department of Public Safety took to social media to defend the actions of his officers in arresting a man involved in a domestic disturbance.

Responding to a cellphone video of the incident that was widely shared locally, acting director James McMillen said his officers "acted appropriately" in making the arrest Wednesday.

He did not return repeated messages left by the Southeast Missourian for additional comments beyond those posted on Facebook.

McMillen acknowledged in the lengthy post on the department's Facebook page that "any arrest involving violence is never pretty."

The incident occurred around noon Wednesday when "a seasoned detective drove upon an obvious domestic disturbance at S. West and Ruth streets," he wrote.

"A man was seen carrying a child and a female that was chasing him. The detective called out the disturbance, exited his vehicle and attempted to stabilize the situation," according to McMillen.

He wrote that the officer told the man to stop, but the individual did not comply.

A woman at the scene told the detective that the man was her 18-month-old baby's father and he had just taken the child form her and threatened to leave the state.

Court records identified the man as Tarrington Marks, 24, of Sikeston.

McMillen did not name him in the statement posted Thursday.

The acting director wrote that public safety officers had responded to "numerous domestic violence incidents between these two adults in the past months."

He added, "This detective was familiar with the man and was involved in an arrest with the man at a recent domestic violence situation in which he destroyed property in the lady's home. With this information already known, the detective could see that this previous violence had now escalated to an incident involving the child."

According to McMillen, "Other officers arrived on scene as the man now sat on the side of the road and tightly gripped the child. The mother was still screaming and the child was crying, so officers approached and asked the man to release the child.

"The man refused and only gripped the child harder," McMillen wrote.

McMillen wrote, " The man was yelling and screaming incoherently leading officers to believe he was out of control. It was unknown if the man had any weapons or what he was going to do so the officers tried to physical remove the child from his grasp. The man then began tightly squeezing the child and officers used the minimum amount of force necessary to get the child to safety. During this time the man continued to fight with police and refused to recognize his actions were endangering the child."

Some Facebook users criticized the police for tasing Marks as officers tried to restrain him.

McMillen defended his officers and said the department takes "any domestic violence case very seriously and have worked these in which death occurs."

"We have reviewed this incident and have found the officers acted appropriately given the volatile situation. It should be noted that the child was unharmed and the man was examined at the hospital and released into our custody."

Marks has been charged with resisting arrest and endangering the welfare of the child.

Do you like stories about government and courts? Keep up with the latest news by signing up for our daily morning headline email. Go to semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.