ELPD Releases Footage of Controversial August Arrest Outside Harper’s
Long-awaited police body camera footage of an East Lansing police officer punching a 20-year-old woman while she was being detained at the beginning of August was released by the city Tuesday.
In addition to multiple police body camera recordings, the package of videos includes footage taken from the patio at Harper’s Restaurant and Brew Pub, across the street and within the jail. The 12 videos released by the city can be viewed here.
Footage from the patio and from a parking lot across the street shows the woman, Myana Collins, climb the fencing on Harper’s patio after standing and sitting near the line in front of the bar’s entrance. From there Collins approaches the entrance but is stopped outside by individuals alongside security.
Police body camera footage and other footage from the entrance shows that an officer tells Collins, who is sitting on the patio, that business staff has asked her to leave the premises. Body camera footage from the officer speaking to her shows Collins say she’s waiting for her friends. The officer informs her that if she continues to sit on the patio, she will go to jail for trespassing.
Collins is seen in the body camera footage walking around the patio before attempting to go through the Harper’s entrance. The officer is seen grabbing Collins’ purse strap, pulling her away from the door and instructing her to go down the stairs before a struggle ensues, with Collins ending up on the ground.
An officer is heard in the body camera footage telling Collins to put her hands behind her back as she says the officer is “being rude” to her. Still on the ground, an officer informs Collins that she will be tased, prior to deploying a taser. Officers say throughout the various videos that the taser shot three probes into her leg and one in her arm and the probes “bounced out” after hitting her.
After officers carry Collins down the stairs, body camera footage shows an officer telling Collins, who has her arms handcuffed behind her back as she’s laying face down on the ground, to stop grabbing and assaulting officers.
This is when one of the officers punches Collins in the arm while she’s on the ground with a closed fist three times.
During this interaction Collins is screaming for help, saying she can’t breathe and that the officers are being racist.
Back in August, a concerned bystander published a video of the incident, showing an East Lansing police officer punching Collins multiple times. The footage, taken near the bottom of the front steps of Harper’s, sparked immediate outrage from members of the East Lansing community who questioned the actions of the officers involved.
The city’s initial response asserted that the video did not paint a full picture of the incident, with a news release published by the city on Aug. 3 saying the city would review footage of the interaction to determine what can be shared with the public.
It’s been about three months since this interaction occurred and the city has maintained that the officers involved acted in a professional manner.
After the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office declined to authorize felony charges against Collins in September, East Lansing Police Chief Jennifer Brown said the city attorney’s office would review the incident to consider charges. Earlier this month, city attorneys announced they would not be pursuing charges against Collins.
“After a careful review of this case and the information that has come to light in recent weeks, we have decided not to pursue charges in this case,” East Lansing City Attorney Carlito Young said in an Oct. 16 press release. “However, I want to make it clear that this decision does not call into question the propriety of the officers’ decisions on the night of Ms. Collins’ arrest. They responded to a difficult and rapidly evolving situation, cooperated fully with all subsequent reviews and have maintained professionalism throughout more than two months of public scrutiny.”
Members of the City Council say residents can form opinions based on footage, as NAACP Lansing branch president says video shows “torture.”
The cell phone footage posted of Collins’ arrest in August sparked broad backlash against the ELPD during public meetings, but the controversy did not happen in a vacuum.
Questions about police use of force in a series of incidents, including the April 15 fatal shooting of Isaiah Kirby, have raised concerns about the police department. In September, a report prepared by Adrian College Criminal Justice and Sociology Professor Cedrick Heraux for the city’s Police Oversight Commission showed a surge in ELPD use of force in 2025 and that Black people were much more likely to be subjected to severe force than white people.
A community group has formed to watch police interactions with residents downtown during weekends. Local advocates and the Lansing NAACP branch have called for the resignation or removal of Chief Brown.
After the city released the footage of Collins’ arrest, East Lansing Info called the five members of the City Council on Wednesday to ask for their thoughts on what the footage shows.
Councilmember Mark Meadows and Mayor Erik Altmann each declined to share an opinion on the videos, but encouraged residents to review the footage and draw their own conclusions.
Meadows said he would have liked footage to be released earlier, but the city was following its attorneys’ advice to wait for a decision on whether or not to charge Collins with a crime.
“People show up at the microphone [during City Council meetings] and even at the last meeting, a couple of them said ‘we’re just speculating,’” Meadows said. “Well, this helps us not speculate.”
Earlier in October, the council endorsed new police use of force policies after some council members said they think the body should take a more active role in addressing concerns about policing. Altmann said he is not aware of any other actions on the horizon the council could take that impact policing.
Councilmember Steve Whelan said he is not a spokesperson for the police department and does not make decisions on discipline. However, he did comment on the footage.
Whelan, who worked for the ELPD for 25 years before retiring last year, said the officer told Collins to stop grabbing him several times before he deployed “distractionary strikes” to get her to comply with commands. Whelan said it is painful for officers to have their legs grabbed or pinched.
“I did hear the officer say five times that he was being hurt and that does make a difference to me,” Whelan said. “That hurt needs to stop.”
Mayor Pro Tem Chuck Grigsby said he had nothing to add beyond comments he has already made at public meetings and Councilmember Kerry Ebersole Singh did not respond to a voicemail left at about noon on Wednesday.
NAACP Lansing Branch President James McCurtis Jr. said he believed the interaction was appalling based on the cell phone footage he saw previously and the newly released videos do not change that belief. He said Collins was not treated humanely and questioned if officers would have been so forceful with a young, blonde, white woman, referencing Heraux’s report and other reports showing a history of racial disparities in East Lansing policing.
“There is no reason why she should have been punched three times after being handcuffed and placed face down on concrete, and not just face down, but legs up, in a sense almost hogtied,” McCurtis said. “To me it was torture.”
It is common for police in East Lansing to deal with young people who are intoxicated, McCurtis said, and there were several police officers on scene to deal with one woman.
“Do we see other kids getting beaten in that way?” McCurtis asked.
Brown needs to be fired so the culture within the ELPD can begin to change, McCurtis said. He also said all five members of the City Council should be voted out when their terms are up.
“This is the only police department in this area where we see this type of activity,” McCurtis said. “Where we see this type of excessive force on a continual basis. It’s one event after another.”