Bodycam footage shows Alex Galchenyuk threaten officers, utter slurs during arrest

Scottsdale, Ariz. police recently released stunning, profane bodycam footage from Alex Galchenyuk’s July 9 arrest. In the video, a clearly intoxicated Galchenyuk made multiple threats to police officers and their families, and also uttered racial slurs directed at a black police officer.

The bodycam footage is startling in that it captures Galchenyuk’s threats, erratic behavior and posturing about his earnings as a professional hockey player.

AZ Family features about 38 minutes of raw footage from when police approached him in the passenger seat of his car to him being handcuffed on the ground, to Galchenyuk making multiple threats in the back of a police vehicle.

Threatened officers and their families, uttered racial slurs

Viewers should beware of the threatening, profane and sometimes strange things Galchenyuk said.

NBC 12 News put together a four-minute segment that captured some of Galchenyuk’s more volatile behavior.

Among Galchenyuk's outbursts, the 29-year-old threatened not just the officers but their family members as well, including that they’ll “die in the desert.”

Police were responding to reports of a hit-and-run accident where another person’s car and parking lot sign were damaged. Galchenyuk’s father was in the driver’s seat when police approached and seemingly tried to take the blame for the hit-and-run accident. Witnesses, however, claimed that it was Galchenyuk who was driving at the time of the accident.

Currently in the KHL, Galchenyuk seems unlikely to play in the NHL again

The Arizona Coyotes signed Galchenyuk to a one-year contract a few weeks before this incident, then terminated the deal shortly after the arrest.

In a July 18 apology addressed to the Coyotes, his teammates and fans, Galchenyuk wrote that “while this behavior after drinking alcohol is not representative of who I am, I do have to take responsibility for it.” The 29-year-old admitted that his behavior was “deeply offensive, uncalled for, horrendous, embarrassing, disrespectful and just plain awful.”

While Galchenyuk discussed entering the NHL/NHLPA Assistance Program, it appears that he instead opted to pursue his career overseas, playing for SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL.

Galchenyuk pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor threatening charge while having five other charges dismissed in August.

Although Galchenyuk’s hockey career continues in the KHL, it’s difficult to imagine the third pick of the 2012 NHL Draft ever playing in the NHL again.