Lakeland police chief defends department after officers arrest Antwan Glover again

LAKELAND, Fla (WFLA) — For the first time in the 20 months since video of Antwan Glover’s arrest made headlines and launched protests, Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor publicly addressed the now-multiple arrests and his officers’ actions.

“I feel it is important to provide you with the facts as they’re known at this time and to prevent further misinformation from spreading,” he said during a news conference Tuesday.

Last week, officers arrested Glover, who is familiar with the department and the community after Lakeland officers punched and tased him during an arrest in Dec. 2022.

One allegation Taylor seemed eager to address was that the Lakeland Police Department targeted Glover during the recent arrest.

“Our officers did not hide and wait for Mr. Glover, but were part of an operation to make our city safer,” Taylor said.

The chief said after two of his officers were shot at last week, law enforcement initiated joint saturation patrols in certain neighborhoods, including the Bon Air Street area.

That is where officers said they saw Glover roll through a stop sign while not wearing a seatbelt Friday evening.

“Pull over, right there!” officers are heard shouting at Glover in dash camera video Taylor released Tuesday.

The video shows Glover continuing to drive until he got to a relative’s house.

Body worn camera video shows Detective Dillon Cornn reach into Glover’s car and put it in park after repeatedly ordering Glover to park and get out of the car.

“Bro, get out of the car,” Cornn said.

“Are you serious?” Glover said.

Glover was handcuffed and taken into custody.

“Why’d you have to do all that, man?” Cornn said in the video.

“Do what, Dillon? Do what, Dillon?” Glover said.

This is not the first time Glover found himself face-to-face with Cornn.

In Dec. 2022, cell phone video shows a more violent arrest involving Glover and then-officer Cornn.

Officers are seen punching and tasing Glover.

Those charges against Glover were dropped earlier this year when, according to the state attorney’s office, one or more officers involved could not be called as witnesses due to an ongoing investigation.

Cornn was not one of the officers involved in that separate investigation.

“We’ve worked very hard to try to take the punching away. Although it’s lawful, it’s awful. It looks bad on video,” Taylor said about the difference between the two arrests involving the same suspect and the same detective. “Obviously [Cornn] knew who this was, he knew the history. He knew that it was going to be an issue so that probably played a little bit of a role in his response.”

Advocates point to the detective as the problem.

“Antwan has said he’s been stalked by Dillon Cornn before and he’s not the only one,” said Val Beron with the Alliance against Racist and Political Oppression.

Taylor defended Cornn, who received a promotion since Glover’s initial arrest.

“Quit talking about Officer Cornn. I know the people in the community are talking about Officer Cornn. Stop referencing him. He did nothing wrong. He did his job. He did the job that as taxpayers we pay them to do,” Taylor said.

Pastor Clayton Cowart with the Poor & Minority Justice Association has advocated on behalf of Glover in the past.

“We are highly concerned that the Chief of Police is very selective in the issues he is willing to address. After at least eight citizens have been brutalized by the Lakeland police department Chief Taylor has remained silent. However after the arrest of Antwan Glover he has decided finally to speak,” Cowart said in a statement.

Glover is out on bond on several charges including possession of cannabis, resisting an officer and driving with a suspended license.

Court records show Glover lost his license after not paying a red light camera violation.

“Maybe Antwan thinks because of the December incident and what happened to him he has a get out of jail free card. I am here to dissuade him of that fact,” Taylor said.

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