Arizona police have released body cam footage of a violent arrest of a woman who was punched in the face by a cop – an incident that was caught by amateur video and posted to social media earlier this month.
On September 6, a woman was stopped for driving without a license in the town of Goodyear – a suburb of Phoenix.
In the bodycam footage, the officer, who is identified as ‘M. Ross,’ approaches the car and tries to detain the driver, Renee Armenta.
When Ross tells Armenta she’s under arrest, she responds: ‘For what?’
Arizona police have released body cam footage of a violent arrest of a woman who was punched in the face by a cop – an incident that was caught by amateur video and posted to social media earlier this month
On September 6, a woman was stopped for driving without a license in the town of Goodyear – a suburb of Phoenix
In the bodycam footage, the officer, who is identified as ‘M. Ross,’ approaches the car and tries to detain the driver, Renee Armenta. He is seen above grabbing her by the hand after pulling her over
The officer is then seen dragging Armenta across the pavement. Her shoes are seen above after they come off her feet
The image above shows Armenta being pushed to the ground by the officer, who accuses her of resisting arrest
The officer, who is identified as ‘M. Ross,’ then places her hands behind her back and handcuffs her
Throughout the ordeal, Armenta professes her innocence and denies resisting arrest
The officer than yells for her to put her hands up. She responds again by asking what she did.
The officer punched Armenta, who was unarmed, in the face to stop her hanging onto the car door. He then yanked the 38-year-old across the tarmac.
The punch is not clearly seen in the body cam video, but it is evident in a separate video filmed from across the street and posted to social media.
Ross then pulls his gun and points it at a male passenger after he steps out of the car during the altercation.
The male passenger, later identified as 27-year-old John Charlie Moreno Aguilar of Phoenix, exited the car after she was punched.
He is seen laying down on the pavement face down as other officer point their guns at him.
‘I didn’t do anything, sir, why did you punch me?’ Armenta asks repeatedly in the footage.
A male passenger who was in the car with Armenta is also taken into custody
Officers are seen with their gun pointed toward the male who was standing near a bus stop
The officer then escorts a handcuffed Armenta to the police cruiser while she repeatedly professes her innocence
As Armenta is led into the police cruiser, the officer closes the rear passenger side door on her bare foot
‘You resisted arrest,’ the officer, Ross, says.
‘No, I didn’t,’ she replied as she was held against the pavement and handcuffed.
‘I didn’t do anything,’ she says again as she is forced to stand on her feet with her hands cuffed behind her back.
The officer then escorts a handcuffed Armenta to the police cruiser while she repeatedly professes her innocence.
As Armenta is led into the police cruiser, the officer closes the rear passenger side door on her bare foot.
Armenta then lets out a scream and asks to be taken to a hospital for treatment.
Later in the bodycam video, the officer tells a colleague that he hit Armenta after he noticed her hand go behind her back when she was informed she was under arrest.
Goodyear Police Department is investigating the cop over the incident.
Armenta’s attorney told reporters on September 11 that he is considering filing a civil lawsuit against the city of Goodyear and the officer, according to The Arizona Republic.
The same incident was filmed from another angle across the street. The video was then posted to Twitter
As the confrontation continues one witness shouts at the cop, ‘Dude, what the f***? She’s a woman.’
Cops are now reviewing body camera footage of the incident and conducting interviews to understand what happened, reported AZCentral.com.
Armenta is in jail facing charges including resisting arrest, driving with a suspended license and possession of marijuana.
She is scheduled to appear before a judge at Maricopa County Superior Court on Thursday.
The passenger, Aguilar, is accused of possessing drug paraphernalia.
The officer yanks the 38-year-old across the tarmac until she is several feet away from the vehicle
He pulls his gun and points it at a male passenger who steps out of the car during the altercation
Armenta’s daughter, identified only as Cassandra, said she found the footage ‘heartbreaking’ to watch.
‘I didn’t know what he was going to do to her, she was scared for her life,’ she told AZFamily.com.
Armenta has been charged with resisting arrest, driving with a suspended license and possession of marijuana
‘It was really outrageous; it shouldn’t have went that far. It was ridiculous.’
Goodyear Police Department said: ‘The driver who had a suspended driver’s license was notified that she was being placed under arrest; at that time she began to retreat.
‘When a conflict with a suspect occurs during an arrest, this presents a challenging and often dangerous situation for the arresting officer.
‘The top priority of the Goodyear Police Department is the safety of the public as well as our officers.
‘When a situation such as this occurs, it can appear frightening to passersby who don’t understand the full context of the situation.
‘In the interest of transparency and maintaining the trust of our public, the Goodyear Police Department is currently investigating the specific details of this particular case.’