JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Le'Keian Woods, the man at the center of a viral Jacksonville arrest video in September, appeared in Duval County court at 9 a.m. Thursday for his arraignment.
Woods, 24, pleaded not guilty to all counts on three charges he's currently facing. His next court date will be on Jan. 18 for a pre-trial hearing, as Judge Mark Borello told his attorney, "we may need to set the case for trial, obviously [for] late-February."
Woods fled a traffic stop and resisted officers at the time of his arrest, a JSO incident report said. His mugshot subsequently gained significant attention after it showed what appeared to be a badly beaten face and his eyes swollen shut.
Woods remains charged with resisting an officer without violence, tampering with evidence, possessing a controlled substance without a prescription.
The State Attorney's Office is not pursuing three charges police wanted to charge Woods with including armed trafficking of 14 grams or more of amphetamine, armed trafficking of 28 grams or more of cocaine and armed possession of a controlled substance without a prescription.
Woods was struck a total of 17 times by responding detectives and officers during his arrest on Sept. 29, according to the report. The video showed multiple officers standing and kneeling over him. At one point, an officer picked Woods up and slammed him onto the grass. The body camera footage was released a few days later.
Four Jacksonville Sheriff's Officers were involved: Detective Beau P. Daingle, Detective Josue Garriga, Detective T. McCullough and Detective Hunter Sullivan. Sheriff T.K. Waters told reporters that one of the videos, a looped live photo showing Woods being kicked, was "intentionally altered," to appear to show him being kicked while he was handcuffed. The Department of Justice said on Oct. 23, it was not investigating the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
The incident report says JSO's Gang Unit was conducting surveillance in the area of Toledo Road and Powers Avenue in an unmarked police vehicle, when they noticed a vehicle at a gas station that was not pumping gas. A gray Dodge Ram arrived at the gas station with three people inside. A man wearing "all black with a jacket and hood pulled over his head," later identified as Woods, got out of the passenger side of the vehicle.
Woods got in the other vehicle and began counting money, the report said. Detectives attempted a traffic stop on the Dodge Ram near the intersection of Old Kings Road South and Plaza Gate Lane, but the vehicle continued driving "as if the occupants were looking for a place to run from the vehicle," the report said.
The vehicle continued into a dead end of an apartment complex driveway. Daigle and Sullivan attempted to conduct a "high-risk takedown" at the location. Woods was then tased, punched, struck in the ribs, elbowed, and "unintentionally" kneed when officers said he was resisting arrest.
Woods was later taken to UF Health for treatment.
Much of what was found in the vehicle was redacted from the arrest report, but it did say narcotics were found and tested on the scene.
Woods was taken to the Leon County Jail in early October on an outstanding warrant for violating his probation, according to an arrest affidavit for a robbery by sudden snatching charge in an unrelated case.