Prosecutors say officers won’t be charged for punching bikini-clad mother on a New Jersey beach

Officers who violently arrested a 20-year-old mother at New Jersey beach on Memorial Day will not face charges, prosecutors say. 

Video both from police body cam and onlookers shows officers brutally arresting mother-of-one Emily Weinman, as she kicks and spits back at them.

The footage caused controversy over who was in the right, but Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey Sutherland says he made his decision after his office investigated using statements and both available videos of the incident.

‘As County Prosecutor, I recognize that the video footage has raised a lot of questions regarding the officers’ actions. A decision such as this is not based on emotion; it is based upon applying the proper laws, policies and directives that govern law enforcement,’ he said in a statement.

‘It was determined by the Cape May County Prosecutor’s office that the actions of the arresting officer(s) did not meet the evidentiary standards to warrant criminal charges.’  

The beachgoer’s video showed an officer punching the Philadelphia woman twice in the head as she was prone on the sand, her legs flailing.

Wildwood officials have said the videos show Weinman assaulted the officers first, while her lawyer has said police overreacted.

Weinman then yells at the officers as they approach her and she begins to confront them

Police have identified the officers involved as Thomas Cannon, John Hillman and Robert Jordan, and the Wildwood Police Department’s Internal Affairs Unit is conducting an administrative investigation.

Meanwhile, Weinman faces several charges, including aggravated assault on a police officer.

The fracas broke out after an officer as he confronted and argued with Weinman over the discovery of alcoholic iced tea drinks in her possession.  

Video from the onlooker and video from police bodycam show two different parts of the argument, with the release of the bodycam adding context to the shocking scenes captured by the beachgoer. 

The first video shows one of the officers approaching Weinman and a friend who are suspected of underage drinking.

The officers then ask Weinman to take a breathalyzer test 

An officer confronts Weinman and a friend about underage drinking and makes her take a breathalyzer test.

After Weinman blows her breath into the breathalyzer machine, she grows agitated.

‘Is there a problem?’ she says to the officers. ‘Mind your business.’ 

At one point, as the officers handcuff Weinman, she turns around and spits at one of them

At one point, as the officers handcuff Weinman, she turns around and spits at one of them

Weinman then tells the officers: ‘I know that didn’t come out positive. I didn’t take a drink of anything.’

One of the officers then asks the friend to take a breathalyzer. At the same time, Weinman is seen dialing a phone number and making a telephone call, presumably to her aunt.

When the breathalyzer comes back negative for both Weinman and the friend, one of the officers says that he will ask the two women to empty their alcoholic beverages on the beach.

In the next video, Weinman and the officers begin to argue over whether there were any laws broken.

In New Jersey, anyone under the age of 21 is not allowed to ‘purchase, consume or possess’ an alcoholic beverage in a ‘place of public assembly, public place or public conveyance.’

Weinman argues that because the beverages were unopened, that means she wasn’t breaking the law.

But the officers responded that the beverages were ‘in open display’ and could be seen. 

One of the officers is seen taking down the information of Weinman’s friend.

At this point, things begin to escalate between Weinman and the other officer, who accuses her of ‘not cooperating.’

‘I didn’t disrespect you, I didn’t do anything to get written up, did I?’ Weinman tells the officer.

Weinman continues to profess her innocence as she is being led away by officers

Weinman continues to profess her innocence as she is being led away by officers

She then asks the officer if he intends on arresting her for obstruction even though she was at the beach with her 18-month-old daughter. 

The officer tells Weinman she is ‘causing a scene’ after she refuses to give her last name and identify herself.

‘I’ll give you one more chance to give me your last name,’ the officer tells Weinman.

The officers then ask the woman where her aunt is, to which she replies: ‘She’s on her way.’

‘You could wait here,’ she tells the officer. ‘Just like you wasted your time coming over here, you could wait here for her.’

The officer then asks: ‘OK, what’s your last name?’

‘You don’t need my last name,’ Weinman says.

‘OK, that’s it,’ the officer says. ‘I’m done with you.’

When the officer asks his partner if he has handcuffs on him, Weinman reacts angrily and begins to walk away.

‘Get over here,’ the officer says.

‘Don’t f*****g cuff me,’ Weinman replies as she steps away from the pursuing officer.

‘You’re about to get dropped,’ the officer says.

As the officer walks toward her, Weinman puts her hands up and appears to touch the camera. 

The video then turns off. 

The officers have claimed that Weinman was the first to attack them by kicking one of them in the groin, which is not seen in the video

The officers have claimed that Weinman was the first to attack them by kicking one of them in the groin, which is not seen in the video

'My daughter is right there seeing this,' Weinman screams. 'I didn't do anything wrong!'

‘My daughter is right there seeing this,’ Weinman screams. ‘I didn’t do anything wrong!’

Weinman ‘forcibly struck’ the officer in the torso, causing the camera to turn off, Police Chief Robert Regalbuto told NJ Advance Media.

The officers would later claim that it was at this point that Weinman kicked one of them in the groin, which ignited the more violent confrontation that was seen right afterward in the 30-second clip uploaded to social media.

Weinman shared the clip to Facebook and said 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.  

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’. 

This shocking video shows the moment a New Jersey officer repeatedly punched Emily Weinman in the head during an arrest on Memorial Day weekend

'I'm not resisting. I didn't do anything wrong,' Weinman is heard saying as she kicks her legs at the officers

This shocking video shows the moment a New Jersey officer repeatedly punched Emily Weinman in the head during an arrest on Memorial Day weekend

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. 

‘You’re not allowed to hit me and choke me like that,’ she can also be heard saying. 

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.  

'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

Beachgoers are seen standing around recording the incident on their phones, as a baby is heard crying in the background

‘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



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