LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (August 10, 2026) — Nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump has been retained by Alisa Hackett, an 18-year-old Black woman from Osceola who was taken to the ground and struck in the face by an Arkansas State Police trooper during an August 1 traffic stop.
Video of the stop, circulating widely online, shows Trooper Moisses Arellano take Hackett to the ground and strike her in the face. In the dashcam footage, Hackett cries out for help and pleads to call her mother. She tells the trooper he cannot punch her. He curses at her and warns he will do it again if she does not turn around. Arellano’s own use-of-force report, obtained by the Northeast Arkansas outlet NEA Report, concedes the strike: a closed-fist blow to the left side of her face because she would not roll onto her stomach. He then drew his Taser and activated the laser without firing.
Arellano wrote that he stopped Hackett near Manila after clocking her at 71 mph in a 60 mph zone, and that she told him her car window was broken and she was trying to get home. He wrote that he then consulted another trooper, learned she had been stopped days earlier and found with an open container, and decided a citation would not suffice. By his own account, Hackett stepped out of the vehicle without incident, and repeatedly asked what she had done as he reached for her hand.
Mississippi County jail records show Hackett was booked at 12:51 a.m. on August 2 on five charges: improper display of tags, a restriction on vehicle lamps, no seatbelt, purchase or possession of alcohol by a minor, and refusal to submit to arrest. None of the charges have been dropped.
Attorney Crump is calling on the Arkansas State Police to open a use-of-force investigation through its Office of Professional Standards and make the findings public, and to release any of Arellano’s prior use-of-force reports.
Attorney Crump released the following statement:
“This trooper slammed an 18-year-old girl to the ground and punched her in the face. He wrote it down himself: a closed fist, because she would not roll onto her stomach. Alisa asked him what she had done, and the video shows what she got for asking. Arkansas State Police have to explain to the public how that is a reasonable response to a teenager at a traffic stop. If you cannot handle a teenage girl without taking her to the ground, cursing at her, and punching her in the face, you should not be wearing a badge.”
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Through his work, nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump has spearheaded a legal movement to better protect the rights of marginalized citizens. He has led landscape-changing civil rights cases and represented clients in a wide range of areas including civil rights, personal injury, labor and employment, class actions, and more. Ben Crump Law is dedicated to holding the powerful accountable. For more information, visit bencrump.com.
