Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna condemned one of his former deputies for punching a woman in her face multiple times as she held her infant child in her arms. He said the officer’s actions were “unacceptable” and is now working with federal authorities to bring about justice for the mother.
Footage of the incident was released on July 14, a year after it happened.
On July 13, 2022, the bodycam-recorded incident began as a traffic stop in Palmdale, California. Deputies observed a motorist driving without having their headlights turned on shortly around midnight.
The male driver was carrying four women and three babies in the vehicle when he was pulled over, and after an initial inspection, deputies alleged they smelled alcohol coming from the parties and that the children were in danger.
“The infants were being held in the arms of the mothers without the use of child car seats,” Luna said.
The deputies subsequently made the decision to apprehend every adult passenger on charges of felony child endangerment. The driver was hit with additional charges for driving with a suspended license and while under the influence of alcohol.
During the detainment, deputies used force on two of the women.
“One of these uses of force involved a mother and her 3-week-old infant, who was refusing to let go of her child. During the encounter a deputy punched the female twice in the face,” said Luna, who was hired in December 2022.
Bodycam captures one woman holding the 3-week-old baby, saying, “You’re not taking my baby. I’m not about to let you take my baby.”
“She was still holding the infant in one of her arms when she was struck in the face,” Luna said, according to The Washington Post.
According to the sheriff’s department, this use of force incident was assigned immediately to the Internal Affairs Bureau for it to investigate.
The deputy also was relieved of his duties.
“As your Sheriff, I want to speak clearly and directly to our community about this incident,” said Luna. “I found the punching of the woman in these circumstances unacceptable.”
He spoke of how the incident took place one year ago before his term as sheriff began and how he took swift action “upon learning of this incident several days ago.”
Luna said he instructed his office’s Professional Standards Division to refer this incident to the district attorney for criminal consideration and that the Los Angeles FBI Office also would be looking into the matter.
The FBI has opened an investigation into the sheriff’s office, the nation’s largest sheriff’s department, after several reports regarding deputies’ excessive use of force were submitted to their officer, ABC 7 reports.
In addition to the Palmdale case, the federal investigators will be looking at another case involving a grocery store robbery in Lancaster, California, where another woman was thrown down, punched and pepper sprayed before being handcuffed.
