Cop filmed forcibly arresting ex-girlfriend ‘to have her committed’ | US News

A ‘controlling’ police officer has been accused of pretending his ex was suicidal so he could have her involuntarily committed.

Ronald Keith Davis, 37, is facing felony charges in the US after chilling footage shows him wrestling and restraining Michelle Perfanov, who is less than half his size, on August 21.

The married Pennsylvania trooper had an affair with Michelle for four months, while she was living in his trailer.

After the relationship had broken down, Davis called the police and showed them texts from Michelle saying she was going to ‘drive off a cliff’.

He went to the station to obtain an involuntary commitment petition, and, after officers could not find her, said he would ‘take care of it himself’, according to the affidavit quoted by the Daily Mail.

Davis went off to find Michelle with a ‘civilian companion’ and eventually tracked her to Pennsylvania State Game Lands in Weiser State Forest.

The companion filmed Davis physically restraining Michelle, showing the officer holding her to the ground, sitting on her and grabbing her legs while she repeatedly tells him that she cannot breathe.

When he tells her she ‘needs help’, Michelle responds: ‘I don’t need help – I need to get away from you. 

‘This isn’t normal, I don’t care what anyone says. I’m going to any jail, I haven’t done anything wrong. Please let me go. 

‘I didn’t do anything wrong except disagree with you.’

When other officers arrived, Michelle was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuykill where she was held for 72 hours.

She was committed for another two days before she was released on August 26 and interviewed by police.

Michelle said her messages about ‘driving off a cliff’ were to ‘illicit a reaction’ after their relationship had disintegrated.

The affidavit reads: ‘Taken in context, the texts revealed her frustration with Trooper Davis and his controlling behaviour (and her desire to break off the relationship), not a true desire to harm herself.’

She said that, when she told Davis she wanted to move to a new city, he became outraged.

A text he allegedly sent her read: ‘You’re done. F**k around and find out. Get out of my house now.’

Davis was arrested and now faces multiple serious charges, including false imprisonment, strangulation, recklessly endangering another person and assault.

The criminal complaint says Davis ‘knowingly or intentionally impeding the breathing or circulation of the blood of another person by applying pressure to the throat or neck’.

He was remanded on bail after an arraignment on September 21.

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