The man beaten by a Clackamas County sheriff’s deputy was experiencing a mental health crisis, according to the man’s mother. Footage of the incident was captured on body cameras and shared by the sheriff’s office. Bystander footage also circulated widely on social media.

Dakota Hadley, 30, was in crisis when his mother Tami Sehorn called 911 on Sunday morning, she said. Hadley had left the home before several deputies arrived and asked Sehorn about Hadley. She called 911 again hours later to report Hadley was still in crisis and pounding on her door. A few minutes later, deputies approached Hadley on the street, in an incident that quickly escalated to violence.

The Clackamas County District Attorney’s office has charged Hadley with possession of methamphetamine and resisting arrest, though the sheriff’s office said they initially contacted him in response to a report of domestic disturbance.

Sehorn says the domestic disturbance claim is untrue. The sheriff’s office did not respond when asked about the discrepancy.

Local tattoo artist Freddy Flores witnessed the arrest on Monterey Avenue near the Clackamas Town Center mall. A video Flores posted to social media, and shared with OPB, shows Sgt. Marc Griffith strike Hadley with a closed fist at least seven times while Deputy Aaron Clark held him on the ground. Deputy Josh Chapman then ran to help restrain Hadley.

Flores said he noticed the deputies’ cars approaching and the deputies exchanging words with Hadley.

“Then I noticed the officer M. Griffith get angry and slams the man hard causing his face to hit the ground all while having his hands behind his back,” Flores told OPB in a text message.

Flores added both officers were on top of Hadley when Griffith started “punching and punching and punching.”

As Flores’ video circulated on social media Tuesday, the sheriff’s office put out a statement with body camera footage that evening. Law enforcement agencies typically only release body camera videos after an investigation takes place, and often only after requests are made for the footage. The sheriff’s office’s statement said that Hadley “refused to follow instructions and resisted arrest.”

Body camera footage from Clark and Griffith show Hadley complying with the officers’ orders to take his hands out of his pockets and place them on his head. Clark then tells Hadley “relax your arms,” and warns him “if you resist I’m going to use force.”

As officers’ placed Hadley’s hands behind his back, they tell him to “knock it off” then quickly take him to the ground where Griffith begins to strike him. It’s not clear in the video if or how Hadley was resisting.

In a statement of probable cause for lodging Hadley in Clackamas County Jail, Clark wrote Hadley, “actively resisted me in putting my hands behind his back, then had to be taken to the ground resulting in a use of force to subdue him.”

In the body camera video, deputies then search his pockets, finding cigarettes, a lighter and an item the deputies described as a meth pipe.

Flores said an ambulance arrived on scene and paramedics evaluated Hadley, but he was taken away in a police car.

Clackamas County District Attorney John Wentworth declined to comment on the use of force in the videos. Asked whether Clark, Griffith or Chapman were under investigation for the incident, the sheriff’s office public information officer John Wildhaber said, “All uses of force are reviewed in accordance with policy and are therefore part of the investigation.” Wildhaber declined to say whether an internal affairs review is underway.

OPB reached out to the union representing sworn deputies of the sheriff’s office and did not hear back.

Sehorn said her son has a history of mental illness and that their family has tried for years to get him help. Hadley’s aunt, Debi Olsen said it’s incredibly difficult to get help for someone who does not realize they need help.

“We were at our last straw and we needed help,” Olsen said of Sunday’s arrest. “We reached out for help and this is what happened.”

According to Sehorn, the deputies who arrived at her home when she called 911 Sunday morning kept asking her whether Hadley had been violent with her.

“I am calling because he is having a mental health crisis right now, and he did not hurt me,” she recalled telling the deputies, emphasizing repeatedly that he was not violent.

When she called again that afternoon, she told 911 he had no weapons and was not dangerous but was still experiencing a mental health crisis.

Two of the three involved officers have previously had their use of force scrutinized. In 2019, Chapman placed his knee on the back of 12-year-old’s neck, leading the boy’s mother to sue the county and an eventual payout of $45,000.

Clark was previously suspended for using his taser on a passenger who ran from a traffic stop, in violation of the sheriff’s office use of force policy, state records show. Clark charged the passenger with crimes with no legal justification, and left the driver of the vehicle unattended — also violations of CCSO policy.

Sehorn said she tried to visit Hadley at the Clackamas County Jail Wednesday morning, but said she was denied the visit because Hadley had not requested visitors. The jail told her inmates need to use their tablets to check in for a visitor appointment, but Sehorn said Hadley has never been able to use a phone when he’s in this type of crisis.

She added she was going to seek help for her son through the National Alliance on Mental Illness but said there is only so much they can do. Unable to see or contact Hadley, the family is extremely worried about how he’s doing, wondering whether he has a concussion.

“I know he’s in a mental health crisis, he’s in a lot of pain,” Sehorn told OPB.

OPB’s Troy Brynelson and Conrad Wilson contributed to this report.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/05/13/man-beaten-arrested-clackamas-county-sheriff-deputy-mental-health-crisis/