Released Snapchat footage shows Aurora man in DeKalb tasing appearing to advertise marijuana

DeKALB – Newly released clips from the social media platform Snapchat appear to show Aurora man Elonte McDowell advertising a large quantity of marijuana, which DeKalb police said was part of a tip that led to his controversial arrest in August.

The footage comes from the DeKalb County State's Attorney's Office after a Freedom of Information Act request from the Daily Chronicle. DeKalb County State's Attorney Rick Amato has confirmed that he is in possession a report compiled from the Illinois State Police following the Aug. 24 arrest of Aurora man Elonte McDowell, which gained national media attention after footage showed a DeKalb police sergeant wrapping his arm around McDowell's neck. A DeKalb County Sheriff's deputy then fired a taser at McDowell while he was on the ground.

Following the arrest, DeKalb interim Police Chief John Petragallo and DeKalb County Sheriff Roger Scott agreed to open an outside investigation through the Illinois State Police to determine whether the use of force was warranted, and the sergeant involved was reassigned to desk duty.

Amato’s office will review the ISP findings and make a determination whether to indict a DeKalb police officer, but will not release any additional information until that time, FOIA documents show.

It’s unclear in the video clips what time or date McDowell took the videos before his Aug. 24 arrest. The clips appear to show different types of marijuana for sale, priced as high as $260 and as low as $15 a gram. McDowell appears to advertise marijuana from an undisclosed location and also with a downtown Seattle location stamp.

On Aug. 24, DeKalb police pulled McDowell over in the parking lot of Lincoln Tower, 1100 W. Lincoln Highway, but did not answer questions about why he was being pulled over.

DeKalb police received a tip that McDowell would be driving to DeKalb "with a load of drugs" after McDowell was seen advertising marijuana on Snapchat, according to DeKalb County court records, and learned he would be driving a tan Chevrolet Malibu.

McDowell is next scheduled to appear in DeKalb County court for a pretrial status hearing Nov. 4 at 9 a.m. as he faces charges of unlawful possession of marijuana, unlawful possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, criminal trespass to property and resisting a police officer.

If convicted of the most serious charge of unlawful possession with intent to deliver, McDowell could face up to five years in prison.

McDowell’s lawyers, Chicago-based civil rights attorney Antonio Jeffrey and Sycamore-based Brian Erwin, who is representing him on criminal matters, have said he feels he was treated unlawfully. Jeffrey said he plans to file a civil rights lawsuit against the city of DeKalb after investigations are complete.