Video of a Black woman being pulled out of her vehicle by a sheriff’s deputy in Pompano Beach near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was released on Aug. 24. The incident happened on May 7, 2022.
The video was shared by the show “Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey” and begins with Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputy Steven Davis approaching Kianna Cooper as she sat in her parked vehicle waiting for a friend while talking with her mother on the phone.
“How you doin’?” said Davis. “You got an ID on you, ma’am?”
Cooper began to look for her identification as she politely replied with a soft voice, “Why am I giving my ID?”
The tone in Davis’ voice was audibly different as he replied, “Because I asked for it.”
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“Because you asked for it,” echoed Cooper, prompting Davis to say, “yes ma’am.”
Cooper then stated that she no longer felt comfortable because she didn’t have a problem.
“OK, well, I’m asking for your ID, and if you don’t produce it, I’m gonna take you to jail,” said Davis. As Cooper asked her mother if she heard the conversation, Davis said he wasn’t going to ask her again. Cooper then tells her mother she wasn’t being told why Davis wanted to see her ID and referenced being arrested.
“These people could kill me, Mom,” said Cooper.
Davis told Cooper he would give her one more chance or “and then I’m gonna pull you out of the car.”
Cooper replied that he would not be pulling her out of the car as he reached over and opened her car door. She could be heard asking why he was being so aggressive.
“Sir! Please! Why are you being so aggressive?”
Davis pulled Cooper out of the car and tackled her to the ground as a tussle ensued.
“You’re not gonna fight me what are you doing?” asked Cooper as Davis appeared to be trying to hold her hands in place while yelling, “Stop! Stop!”
Cooper can be heard saying, “What’s wrong with you? You just hit a woman.”
The 28-year-old was arrested and charged with resisting arrest and battery on a law enforcement officer. Cooper testified in court last July that Davis hit her several times in the head and that she received injuries to her arms, face and legs after being attacked by Cooper.
During a court hearing on Aug. 24, Davis claimed that it was Cooper who became aggressive with him, adding that he forcibly removed her from her vehicle because she was noncompliant, according to Local10 News. He also testified that he was “bleeding profusely” from his head after Cooper attacked him.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that Broward Circuit Judge Peter Holden sided with Davis during the August hearing and ruled that the case against Cooper would continue.
The judge said that prior to the video, Davis had been responding to a report of an assault arising out of a dispute over what witnesses say was Cooper’s attempt to hold multiple parking spaces at the beach, and bystanders allegedly pointed out Cooper as the assailant as Davis responded to the call.
“The deputy didn’t ask once, not twice, not three times, but at least four times,” said Holden.
Davis was sued for another arrest where he pulled a woman from her vehicle during a traffic stop. Gregory Barkley and his wife Michelle Barkley filed a lawsuit stemming from their arrest in 2005 for parking illegally in front of a Publix grocery store.
As her husband was being handcuffed, Mrs. Barkley exited the vehicle out of concern but returned to the car after being directed by her husband. Davis reportedly used a Taser on her “two to five times” before forcibly removing her from her vehicle and arresting her for battery against a police officer and obstruction with violence.
Another woman named Lauren Holliday also accused Davis of pulling her from her vehicle while arresting her in 2020. Holliday said Davis harassed her about walking her service dogs on the beach, and in retaliation, he arrested her days later, charging her with resisting arrest with violence and driving on a suspended license.
“Davis didn’t even tell me why he was arresting me,” she said in a letter to the judge. “He just pulled me out of the car and kneed me to the ground. His gun flew out of his holder. It has been the most terrifying event in my life.”
Cooper’s attorney, Steven Melnick, plans to call Holliday as a witness.
The next scheduled court date is Oct. 19.
