Police said that Lankford said his handcuffs were too tight, and when Holden tried to loosen them, Lankford attacked him.
"This suspect was fully intent on hurting our officer. Not escaping but hurting our officer," Chief Mark Holtzman said. "He even tried to take his weapon off his belt, which we know what that ends in, a deadly situation."
Video of the attack shows Lankford slamming Holton to the concrete. During the beating, Lankford said he would kill Holton, WNCT reported.
Video surveillance showed the suspect slamming the officer to the concrete, assaulting him numerous times and dragging the officer while attempting to grab his weapon.
Posted by WNCN on Friday, July 8, 2016
An off-duty firefighter and another witness saw the fight and stepped in to help. Police said if they had not, Holton would have died.
They will be honored for their bravery next week.
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