Video: Cop Punches Woman In Face Four Times During Arrest For Riding A Bike

Originally posted by BorgHoffen
www.msnbc.msn.com...

Stevenson was eventually led away by officers and put into a police cruiser. She was later convicted of resisting arrest.

She WAS CONVICTED!!!
How can you be resisting arrest, for riding a bike on a freaking sidewalk???
To be resisting arrest, the arrest has to be lawful in the first place.
This wasn't a lawful arrest.If the cop was giving her a ticket, and she punched him, then of course she can be arrested.

There seems to be more to this story than printed on Prison Planet, here is the Carl Drogos statement here

the plaintiff was under the influence and had crack coc aine in her possession, along with the fact that she had other outstanding warrants

I am not saying what the police officer did is right, what I am saying is that all the facts need to be considered before making judgements so quickly.

However, after reading his statement and looking at the video, the facts are IMO that this officer should be charged and jailed for assault. I hope he does lose his house!

reply to post by franspeakfree


Thank you for bringing to light the other side of the situation. I completely agree that the cop should have to do some time, but I don't agree that his house should be lost (he could have a family, and it wasn't their fault :-/).

Woah. That really is uncalled for. I just watched the video. Those four punches, there is absolutely no need for that, the "dangerous" lady was already restrained. Cheap shots by an absolute coward. He only punched her because he was annoyed that he sprayed himself in the face and took his stupidity out on her.

I hope he gets sacked. Shameful.

It's very disturbing to me that the other police officers didn't act surprised about the cop's assault on the woman.

Was he embarrassed for pepper spraying himself?!
Punching her four times was to redeem himself for
his stupidity?!
What an ass....!

As I've said many times before, it seems the American Police training focuses on "control and detain" rather than the traditional protect and serve.

There are constant examples of American cops using excessive force, and this is no longer about the bad apple in the barrel. This seems to stem all the way back to training police to assume that all members of the public are potentially dangerous, that everyone is potentially a criminal and that therefore any action is justified.
This simply shouldn't be the case.

Policing has always been dangerous, but that doesn't excuse so many acts of violence and threatening behavior against people who are "innocent until proven guilty in a court of law".

I honestly don't care if this woman was carrying drugs, had warrants, had illegally rode a bike on a sidewalk, it is not the job of Police officers to decide on the street that she is guilty, that is the job of a court and a judge. And until that time comes, the person they are detaining should be treated with respect and civility.

They clearly used excessive force, they clearly broke the law, they clearly need to be punished for their action.

Gaia help you all when the SHTF for real, because you can guarantee the Police training of "shoot first and ask questions later" will deny most of you the opportunity to even verbally disagree with your elected leaders.
They are trained to control the public, not to serve.

Edit due to shpelling.

[edit on 5-2-2009 by detachedindividual]

wooo wooooooo woooooooooo wooooooooooooo wooooooooooooooooooooo

there should be a 1 time rule for officers pulling this level of crap.

it would help eliminate the thugs on the force and give an honest citizen a chance at a steady job and benefits.

just rid the system of these pansy's, get honorable people in position and i bet the whole tune would change.

did anyone else see how foggy it was? in the video it looks really foggy outside. I wouldn't want to ride my bike in the middle of the street at night when it was that foggy out. I would be afraid of getting hit by those same cops driving by. What if they got a call turned on the bright shiny flickering lights and slammed into her b/c she was obeying "the law" by riding in the street. ESPECIALLY when it was night out and no one else was around..I mean come on. They said the cop resigned for "undisclosed" reasons. Hah I think we all know what that reason was.

Yeah i think this officer had his ego badly damaged when he was stupid enough to pepper spray himself. He then took out his anger on the nearest person who he thought he could blame for the violence he had to use. Hence the whole resisting arrest stuff.

Well you know what? If an officer did this to me then i would also be resisting arrest and that officer would end up badly damaged. After all if i'm going to be charged for resisting arrest i want my moneys worth.

Disgusting behavior by a guy with an ego bigger than the moon. As for the other officers, well they need firing for allowing this to happen. What an utterly disgusting state of affairs.

One of these days, a victim of a police assault ,or a witness to it, is going to decide that the police have overstepped their bounds and fight back. That day is coming soon, I guarantee it. And when it does there is going to be a lot of support for the civilian that defends himself against police brutality, alot more than the police would probably care to admit.

Originally posted by zooplancton
there should be a 1 time rule for officers pulling this level of crap.

it would help eliminate the thugs on the force and give an honest citizen a chance at a steady job and benefits.

I could not agree more.

A few points to consider here;

Police should be, and must be, held accountable of their actions in the local community of which they serve while following the articles of the law. This is the only way to assure that the peace of the local communities is to be upheld and the respect of its citizen to be maintained. And as long as the officers who behave in the manner shown in the video do not have to face the members of that community with any certainty of repetitious encounter, this behavior will continue. There was a time when law enforcement was held directly responsible and accountable to and by the citizens of a community.

It was later alleged, as it was later filed, that the woman had possession of crack coc aine and may have been under the influence of coc aine at the time of this encounter. To this I can truly feel a sense of disgust. This is a typical scapegoat, “throw down” tactic used by unscrupulous officers. A “throw down”, known by many other names as well, is an article the officer can throw down at the scene of an arrest to further implement a perp, and in doing so, further justify an officers actions. A “throw down” can be virtually anything but is generally a knife or a small amount of an illegal substance. In this case, after reviewing the video, the only truly evidential action is that the officer is incompetent, should be removed from the force and all charges against the woman should be dropped.

There should also be a stipulation in addenda to the law governing the sidewalk usage to allow bicycles with pedestrians having right of way.



[edit on 2/5/2009 by eaganthorn]

ya, that cop is a idiot

at least he was trying to use pepper spray

if she shot his gun in his face it would have been alot worse

What a tuff guy!

I use to ride my bike all the time here in Clearwater.. Yes on the sidewalk! And I was never pulled over, or bothered by any cops.

What a dirtbag Cop! And such a big man.. Punching a Teen age girl while she has 2 other men holding her down..

Shameful. No excuse for this one. She was riding her bike on the sidewalk for gods sakes.. Let it go.. No need for all that.

Just wow.. Takes a big man to do what I just saw! A real tuff guy.. Those other 2 officers should get in trouble too.. Is that not called being an accessory to a crime?

Accessory (legal term), a person who assists a criminal

Sooner or later theres going to have to be some laws that deal with officers like this.
Just becasue they enforce the laws doesnt mean they are above the law.

Granted if this was over drug charges, or something else it might excuse why he tried to pepper spray her.. But she was just riding her bike on the sidewalk!!! WTH!!!

Bring out the dogs!! And air support.. We got ourselfs a sidewalk bike rider! Everyone knows how dangerous these people are!
Riding their bikes on the sidewalks..

[edit on 5-2-2009 by zysin5]

Originally posted by googolplex
In a City by where I live this guy applied to be a Police officer, they told him he had to high of a IQ to be police officer. But I think he could have been a Daaatective.

I am glad you brought that up. There are indeed in some states and in the military for MPs, IQ limits. And if you are too smart, no badge for you.

Odd, isnt it? Cant have the enforcers thinking for themselves.

This is another clear example of the 'restraining influence of the Holy Spirit being lifted (I think in the late '80s). The class bully who was acting under color of law is not going to be dealt with in the courts. They are all in the same gang. You obviously have not been into court to see some of the idiotic things they now do, pretending to be the 'good guys'. They were trained in 'law school' how to lie in a politically correct way. The best, or worst, liars attain to the White House, or other high level jobs. The stupid ones, the class bullies, usually end up as only 'cops'. Up until the late '80s, they made some effort to actually do the right thing. No more. They are the reason James Madison promoted gun ownership. Get used to it, the parable of the late coming Groom, NT, seems to be about the widespread hoax of 'pre-trib rapture'. Are you ready for a later return?

reply to post by franspeakfree


She probably is a scum bag but that copper was damned by his quick use of the pepper spray and the subsequent punches he delivered after she was restrained.

In no way was that woman resisting arrest until he became heavy handed and at that point her actions was instinctively defensive. Women have trouble accepting an aggressive hand pawing at them, even a crackhead woman.

His actions were a consequence of his reaction to her lack of instant and immediate compliance. Again, her actions may have been a reaction to perceived hostility yet she was not demonstrative. The copper was on a power trip and failed totally in taking a quiet and professional control of the situation.

[edit on 122828p://pm2816 by masonwatcher]

Anyone know where these cops live? I challenge them to come to Charlotte, NC so I can have my way with them. To all you people shooting other people like football players and gang members, listen to me. Go after people like these cops next time you want to shoot somebody for no reason. I'm sure you will be compensated in one way or another.

The title is strong with oversimplification. She was hit because the officer lost his cool after spraying himself and took it out on her.

Now why was she "pulled over" for riding a bike late at night on the sidewalk? Because the cops are just being bullies? Or maybe something else.

Perhaps she was a known druggie in the neighborhood. Maybe she was just seen coming from what looked like a drug transaction & they used her riding her bike illegally as an excuse to frisk her. Nor YOU or I know if there was other reasons......... But lets just all jump to conclusions.

Maybe a little background would help explain why the police were "knit picking:"

The prior month this in the paper: "Another shooting in Millville, 7 IN THE LAST 2 MONTHS!

No this in NO WAY justifies the cop losing his cool and hitting her. He should and will face civil charges. But lets not oversimplify this by saying she was beat for riding her bicycle.

I don't usually take the side of the cops, because usually it seems they just abuse power but, in this case, I watched the video good and it seems she sprayed him in the face with mace and then put it back into her pocket trying to get away. I would have punched her in the face too. Cops are people who can lose their temper just like anyone, should not screw with someone with a gun anyway, is she an idiot. I would have shot her in the temple with a tazer gun trying to stimulate her brain some.What an idiot. She deserved it. He shoud have taken his stick out and beat her for that.