Alexander Harrelson, the mentally ill man who was punched repeatedly by Cottage Grove police as they arrested him Sept. 1 pleaded guilty to resisting arrest, according to a statement from the city of Cottage Grove.

Security video of the incident from a nearby building shows at least two officers punching the man, one of them repeatedly, as he lay on the ground, held down by four men. Witnesses say he was punched by several officers and when he was put in the squad car his face was bleeding and he was missing two teeth. 

Eugene Weekly reached out to the city and the Cottage Grove Municipal Court, where he was sentenced Sept. 15, for the exact details of the sentence and to confirm if a plea bargain was signed, but was told to file a public records request that will be looked at Sept. 17.

According to a statement on the Lane County Mugshots Uncensored Facebook page from his mother, Claudia Harrelson, her son “is an unmedicated bipolar paranoid schizophrenic with ADHD, ODD and mild autism.”

She says on the post that, “In all the times Alex has been arrested he has never resisted, always complied with any officers. They have also been informed a few times of his mental health issues. I back our people in blue but this was obscene.”

The city’s statement says, “The Cottage Grove Police Department takes all complaints seriously and immediately assigned an investigator to review and investigate the incident. That review and investigation is ongoing and no additional comment will be provided regarding that investigation.”

Harrelson’s supporters have started a GoFundMe to help pay for his medical costs and legal counsel at gofund.me/cff38aa3

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