LAKELAND, Fla. — More than a year and a half after a Lakeland man's violent arrest in front of his family, the charges related to it have been dropped.
The Polk County state attorney's office filed notice on Friday, May 10, that the charges against Antwan Glover were "terminated and dismissed." The document wasn't posted online until Tuesday. The charges included three counts of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting officers with violence.
The state attorney's office says Glover's charges can't be "proven beyond a reasonable doubt" based on the facts and circumstances of the case.
In January 2023, community activists began calling for Lakeland police to be held accountable for Glover's December 2022 arrest.
Glover was reportedly originally stopped by police for not wearing a seatbelt. Police said at the time Glover started the altercation with officers by resisting arrest.
Video shot during the arrest showed Glover on the ground with officers punching him repeatedly. He was also tased.
Since his arrest, activists and Glover have called on the Lakeland Police chief and the four officers involved to be fired and criminally charged for their actions. In July 2023, the state attorney's office said no criminal charges would be filed against officers.
The police department said that while they were placed on modified duty during an investigation into what happened, the officers were not reprimanded because the state attorney’s office found their conduct to be lawful.
Since then, others have made similar allegations against some of the same police officers.
“I think we see a pattern. It hurts me that I can see the pattern. Others can see the pattern. And the Lakeland Police Department can’t see the pattern,” Pastor Clayton Cowart, a local civil rights advocate with the Poor Minority Justice Association, said.
Three of the officers involved in Glover's arrest are currently on administrative leave due to an unrelated incident that is under investigation: Sergeant Mark Eby, Officer Jason McCain and Officer Anton Jefferson.
A previous statement from the state attorney said Glover refused to follow commands and was aggressive and violent to officers when they tried to remove a satchel from around his neck. At the time of the arrest, representatives from the police department said they were still in the early stages of rolling out body cameras, and that equipment had not yet been issued to officers involved.
Reached by phone, Glover said he is, “of course” relieved at news of the charges against him being dismissed, and now plans to move ahead with a civil lawsuit against the Lakeland Police Department.
10 Tampa Bay reporters Eric Glasser and Miranda Parnell contributed to this report.