EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A mother records the moment an El Paso police officer who is allegedly serving a warrant punches her daughter who is pinned down.
According to a newly released statement, El Paso police said officers were looking for a suspect they said was wanted for family violence/assault. In the statement, the acknowledged “force was used during the apprehension” during the arrest a home.
Police said the woman in the video was booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility on family violence/assault charges and resisting arrest with bonds of $3,000 and $1,000. Police officials did not disclose the woman’s name, but they did say she was released from the jail on a personal recognizance bond.
Per department policy, the Internal Affairs Division is reviewing the incident. We recognize the community’s concern and are committed to transparency. We will share further information as the investigation allows, and appreciate the public’s patience.
It’s important to note that KTSM 9 News does not know what happened in the moments before the incident was recorded.
In the beginning of the video, two officers are seen attempting to arrest a woman in a corner of a room.
The woman is screaming and one officer responds, “You have a warrant for your arrest.” The suspect can be heard saying, “look at this man.” as both officers are grab her.
The officers are seen moving closer to grab the woman, and she screams “–ck you.” One officer can be heard saying, “You have a warrant for your arrest, stop fighting.”
A person in the room can be heard saying, “Quit fighting, quit fighting.” The suspect then tells officers, “You can’t just break into my home.”
The video then shows the officers moving the woman away from the corner and placing her on a sofa covered with blankets and pillows.
The person recording the interaction, who later identified herself as the woman’s mother, can be heard questioning officers, “Why are you grabbing her like that? You don’t got to do that.”
The suspect who appears to be getting away, tells officers, “What the –ck are you doing?” The mother then says, “Why is he beating her up?”
The struggle continues between the suspect and the officers, until one officer is on top of the suspect, pinning her down to the ground as he tries placing her in handcuffs.
When on the ground, the suspect tells the officer, “Why are you beating me up? Why the –ck are you on top of me?”
The woman tells her mother to record the incident as the police officer continues to restrain her. It appears then that the officer is then pushing the woman’s head down. The suspect demanding answers asks the officer, “Why the –ck are you hitting me?” The alleged mother is heard asking, “Why is he beating her up? Why are you letting him beat her up?”
The officer on top of the suspect tells the other officer to “get this arm,(right)” as they are trying to place her in handcuffs.
The suspect then tells her mother that the officers “tased her three times and they’re literally holding me hostage. They’re literally pinning me down. This mother –cker is literally going to break my –cken arm.”
The officer is seen handcuffing one arm as he struggles getting her other arm while on the ground. The alleged mother tells officers, “You’re going to break her arm.”
The suspect then tells officers, “Then why don’t you ask me what to do?” The suspect and another person are heard saying, “What is your name, officer?” and “I want your badge numbers.”
The officers tell the suspect to give them her arm, but the struggle continues. The officer on top of the woman tells her, “Give me your arms.” The suspect echoes the demand, “I want your badge numbers.”
After the suspect asked for the officers’ badge numbers a second time, the officer on top of the woman is then seen punching her once in the face. The impact of the hit is heard as those in the room gasp after the punch. The alleged mother is heard saying, “We got that (on camera).” The suspect is seen holding her face with her free hand.
An El Paso police officer is seen punching a woman who is pinned to ground. (FitFam)
The suspect tells the officers, “Call your supervisors,” as they are still attempting to restrain her.
The suspect is heard saying, “Call 911. He just gave me a black eye. Call the supervisor.” One person can be heard saying, “You did not have to hit her.”
The video that appears to be edited skips to the moment officers have the suspect face down on a table and are struggling to handcuff her. The suspect is still yelling,” Call their supervisor. Tell them they’re literally punching me.”
The officers stand up with the suspect and place her onto the sofa. One person is yelling, “God, they’re punching her and beating the –ck out of her!”
Yelling ensues and more officers get involved in the arrest. The alleged mother is heard saying, “Why is he hitting her?” and “Stop! Hey!”
One person is heard saying, “Poor girl,” after three officers are seen restraining the woman. “She’s one girl!” they yelled.
The suspect then yells, “I can’t breathe.”
One officer tells the alleged mother to leave, but she says, “No, I’m recording this cause he beat her up. He tased her three times and you punched her.” One officer tells the suspect “Relax!”
She yells again, “I can’t breathe, get off of me!” As another person echoes, “She can’t breathe,” and an officer says, “She can breathe.”
The video jumps again showing that the suspect is now handcuffed being carried out of the home. A person says, “You’re beating my granddaughter, I want the supervisor over here too right now.”
As the officers escort the suspect, she tells the officers, “Get the –ck off of me. Why is he choking me? Why are you –cken choking me?”
As they carry the suspect out of the home she screams, “Ow! –ck you, you –cken —hole.”
Sirens can be heard and a large police presence is seen outside the home.
The alleged mother is heard saying, “We don’t need all of this (police units) for one person.”
An officer tells the mother to “get back,” but she says, “No. This is my home and they just beat up my daughter in front of me. She was coming out peacefully, (they) tased her, he beat her up and she has autism.”
The mother goes on to tell the officer that she has the medical records to prove the suspect’s diagnosis.
One person asks an officer if he is the supervisor, and he nods. The person tells the supervisor that they “want all the badge numbers that just did that to her.”
During the conversation between the alleged mother and the police supervisor, the woman explains that they had just arrived after being at the grocery store. She alleges that police officer that first arrived “lied.
“They lied and they said that a transit called and complained that there was noise. We had just come from Albertsons. We just got home.”
Officers are seen going into the home, which the police supervisor explained that it was to “retrieve their equipment.”
The alleged mother demanding answers asks why her daughter was arrested. An officer inside the home explains there was a warrant out for her arrest.
The alleged mother continues question police and pointing out that punch wasn’t necessary.
“That one (officer), he didn’t, he was beating her up.” The officer asks the mother, “But did she listen?” The mother replies, “No, she has autism. You hit her in the face.”
In the ending of the video, police officers are seen searching for the wires that deployed when a stun gun was alleged used on the suspect.
The police officer who was recorded punching the woman identified himself as Tavera 3814.
At this time the names of the parties involved are unknown, and why police were at the home.
No information has been released on what led up to the struggle. KTSM 9 News has reached out to the El Paso Police Department for a statement.
This is a developing story and will update you once we learn more.
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