Officer fired after viral video showed him choking former Houston Texans player during arrest

HENRY COUNTY, Georgia (KTRK) -- The officer at the center of a video that showed a former Houston Texans player being choked and pinned to the ground has been fired, Henry County Police Department announced.

Desmond Marrow was arrested after a road rage incident in Henry County, Georgia, in December. Video of the arrest surfaced late April which showed three officers pinning him to the ground and one officer using his hand to choke him.

According to police, an Internal Affairs investigation revealed that "unnecessary force was used by Officer David Rose and that Officer Rose was recorded stating that he choked Mr. Marrow."

"He was also recorded stating that he was not going to write that information in his report," a release stated. "This statement was recorded on Officer Rose's in-car video camera system."

The situation started after police said Marrow was involved in a road rage incident with two men after Marrow said they threw a coffee cup at his vehicle.

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A witness told WGCL that he followed Marrow and the second vehicle to a Target parking lot where, according to the witness, Marrow wouldn't calm down.

In the release, police said the investigation revealed that another officer's actions throughout the arrest were within departmental policy.

"It is important to note what the brief cell phone video doesn't show--which is the level of resistance by Mr. Marrow while officers were arresting him, and the struggle officers encountered while trying to get control of the situation while Mr. Marrow was fighting with those officers. The video also shows officers taking Mr. Marrow to the ground in an attempt to gain control of him. This is what police officers are trained to do when they cannot gain control of a suspect, and is in compliance with departmental policy," Henry County police stated.

Police said that Rose "was administratively charged with maltreatment or unnecessary force, and conduct violations, both through departmental policy and county policy."

Marrow played briefly for the Texans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.