Two New Jersey police officers have been reassigned to desk duty after they were caught on camera punching a bikini-clad woman during an arrest.
The Wildwood Police Department came under fire after two officers were seen hitting Emily Weinman in the head and body slamming her to the sand.
Both officers have been reassigned to desk duty and an internal investigation into the Memorial Day weekend incident has been launched.
But Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr has come to the officers’ defense, saying the body camera footage will reveal there is more to the story.
This shocking video shows the moment a New Jersey officer repeatedly punched Emily Weinman in the head during an arrest on Memorial Day weekend
‘It wasn’t just that this officer decided to beat her up. That wasn’t the case,’ he told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Troiano Jr said that the footage would show that Weinman, 20, insulted the cops and spit on them.
‘We don’t like to see anyone get hit, period,’ he said.
‘Bu then again, when you have someone who’s aggressive attacking you or spitting at you…I wasn’t there. I don’t know.’
Troiano also hit out at young people who came to the city and drank at the beach.
‘I don’t understand why it seems to be that this is a God-given right that they can come here and drink underage,’ he said.
‘You’re not allowed to hit me like that,’ Weinman repeatedly tells the officers who continue to hold her down and proceed to handcuff the young woman
Weinman, who went to the beach with her daughter and family, posted about the incident on Facebook with a lengthy description of what she says happened.
She claims the incident started when the cops approached her on their four wheelers and asked her and her friend for their ages because there was alcohol near them.
‘I had alcohol, it’s Memorial Day weekend and 90 percent of people are underage drinking on the beach, without a doubt,’ she wrote.
The pair cooperated with the officers and gave them their ages before getting breathalyzed.
‘It came back negative. I told them I wasn’t drinking and the alcohol was clearly closed/sealed, which the cops seen,’ she wrote on Facebook.
She claims the incident (pictured) started when the cops approached her on their four wheelers and asked her and her friend for their ages because of the alcohol near them
Weinman said the cops still stayed near them, with one even following her when she walked away to make a phone call.
‘I asked them don’t they have something better to do as cops than to stop people for underage drinking on the beach, saying that there’s so much more serious stuff going on…the cop said, “I was gonna let you go but now I’ll write you up” and he asked my name.’
Weinman said that she didn’t ‘do anything wrong and anything could’ve been written down on that paper so I wouldn’t give it to him’.
She said the officers told her that they were going to arrest her despite her telling them that she was at the beach with her 18-month-old daughter.
‘He told me he’s arresting me and started coming towards me to put handcuffs on me. I cautiously was backing up from him (facing him) and yelled for my daughter’s father,’ Weinman wrote.
Weinman said that she ‘tripped and fell and the cop tackled me to the ground and smashed my head into the sand’.
Weinman admitted that she should’ve just given the officer her name to avoid the incident, but ‘the whole situation was iffy and I didn’t trust it’ she said. She also said that she is underage, but she hadn’t been drinking
Within moments, Weinman said she blacked out and tried to get up and push the officer off of her.
‘That’s when he head locked me by [putting] his arm around my neck, punched on me in my head and then he head locked me again but this time choking me, I was gasping for air,’ Weinman claims.
The video, which has been viewed more than a million times on social media, shows one of the officers wrapping his arm around Weinman’s neck.
He then punches her twice in the head before body slamming her on her back as the other officer screams ‘Stop resisting!’
‘I’m not resisting. I didn’t do anything wrong,’ Weinman is heard saying as she kicks her legs at the officers.
Weinman, who has an 18-month-old daughter (both pictured) said she shared the video because the ‘situation was handled wrongly and blew out of proportion’
‘You’re not allowed to hit me and choke me like that,’ she can also be heard saying.
Wildwood Police Chief Robert Regalbuto has since said that while he finds the video ‘alarming’ he ‘does not want to rush to judgement’ until the investigation is completed.
Weinman admitted that she should’ve just given the officer her name to avoid the incident, but ‘the whole situation was iffy and I didn’t trust it’ she said.
She also said that she is underage, but hadn’t been drinking. She said she shared the video because the ‘situation was handled wrongly and blew out of proportion’.
Weinman said thatm after she was handcuffed, the officers didn’t bother to take the beer that was next to her.
She believes they were just ‘there to stir the pot’.
Weinman has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, aggravated assault by spitting bodily fluids on a police officer, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstruction, and being a minor in possession of alcohol.