Two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies are now under investigation for their use of force after cellphone footage captured the officers detaining a Black couple, then body-slamming and threatening to hit the woman.
The incident occurred on June 24 in the city of Lancaster. The deputies were responding to a report of a robbery at WinCo Foods grocery store and attempted to detain a couple who matched the description given by the grocery store security.
The video shows an older Black man and woman being detained in the parking lot of the grocery store. A bystander captured much of the encounter on a cellphone. Police also recently released some bodycam video of the arrest.
“I told them to call the police. … I waited for you,” the Black nan could be heard saying in the video as he is being handcuffed by the deputies.
He continued, “I don’t have nothing. … I’m not even being resistant.”
The bystander then panned to the woman as one deputy walks away from the now-handcuffed Black man to the woman as she was holding up her cellphone recording the protesting man’s detention. The woman screams “You can’t touch me!” As the deputy flings her to the ground.
A struggle between the deputy and woman ensues, with him yelling “Get down on the ground!” as she tries to rise.
The deputy then kneels on the struggling woman’s neck and warns “Stop or you’re gonna get punched in the face!” as she threatens to sue him.
The deputy then threatens to spray the woman while she demands he call a commander to the scene.
“You don’t have to do this sh*t, bro. That’s wrong, man,” yells handcuffed man as the woman is being manhandled and sprayed.
The woman was eventually placed into handcuffs and pulled back up to her feet. Another deputy asked her how she was doing once she was off the ground.
According to Deputy Miesha McClendon, the couple was cited and then released. The details of their citations were not released to the public.
“As deputies attempted to detain the individuals described by store security personnel, the encounter escalated into a use of force incident that was captured by a community member with a cell phone camera,” the sheriff’s department said in a news release late Monday night. “The video is disturbing.”
Both deputies were taken off field duty and investigation will determine if the use of force in the incident was reasonable and appropriate, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“Sheriff [Robert] Luna has made it clear that he expects Department personnel to treat all members of the public with dignity and respect, and that personnel who do not uphold our training standards will be held accountable,” the department said in their press release.
It was not reported whether the couple suffered any injuries. A protest is being organized at the grocery store on Wednesday at 5 p.m. by several groups, including the Community Action League, the L.A. Times reports.
