A police officer is facing calls to be taken off frontline duty after a video emerged of her striking a high school boy at least five times as she tried to overpower and arrest him.
Bianca Camacho allegedly beat up Maurice Williams, 16, while trying to handcuff him at Fairfield High School in California on May 20.
She has since been reassigned.
Camacho’s body-worn camera appears to show her pull Maurice down by his hair before trying to twist his arm back so she can get handcuffs on him.
As she struggles to over power him she appears to use ‘additional distraction strikes’ to his face.
Pinning his head to the floor, she shouts: ‘Give me your f***ing hands,’ several times, bodycam footage showed.
Maurice is then handcuffed as he gently says: ‘stop, stop, stop’.
The boy’s family said the student was ‘beaten like a dog’ and has experienced ‘dizzy spells’ and headaches since the altercation.
‘The officer delivered several strikes to gain compliance and gain access to his hands so he could be handcuffed. Once the assisting officer was able to reposition, both officers were able to place the young man into handcuffs’, Chief Dan Marshall said.
‘The officer tried again to pull his arm behind his back but was still not able to overcome his resistance. The officer applied additional distraction strikes, which resulted in the second student complying and placing his hands behind his back,’ police said.
Screwdrivers were found in the students’ backpacks, Fairfield Police said.
‘We will carefully evaluate the totality of the investigation’s findings, for discipline, additional training, opportunities for improvements, or policy changes within the department,’ Chf Marshall said.
‘Additionally, we are working alongside the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District and community leaders to organize a community meeting focused on both this incident and the broader issue of the climate and culture on our high school campuses.’
In a statement, Fairfield Police Department said: ‘The department is aware of a video circulating online of a Fairfield Police Officer using force against a student in this incident. The department is committed to transparency in this incident.
‘Body camera videos from two officers have been released to provide context to the situation.’
They added: ‘The officer has been administratively reassigned in the department as we navigate this emotional and challenging time.’
It has since emerged that Camacho was allegedly involved in a case of excessive force a year ago against 18-year-old Myah Hamilton.
Camacho again allegedly dragged Hamilton by her hair during a traffic stop.
The police report describes Ms Hamilton being pulled over for speeding and failing to yield to emergency lights.
‘Please, don’t rip me out,’ Hamilton yells at Camacho, as the officer helps unwind her arm through the seatbelt, according to ABC 7.
Camacho was seen on mobile phone footage grabbing two fistfuls of Hamilton’s hair to get Ms Hamilton out of her vehicle.
‘Can you stop? Can you stop, please?’ Hamilton begs as Camacho grabs her left arm.
‘The same thing that happened to that poor boy was pretty much what happened to me,’ Hamilton, whose case is still pending, said.
‘She ripped my hair out so I had a bald spot,’ Hamilton alleges. ‘I still have the scars from [it].’
The police report describes Hamilton being pulled over for speeding and failing to yield to emergency lights.
‘It’s not okay, that should have never happened,’ she said.
According to court filings, Camacho stopped Hamilton for speeding. Once at Hamilton’s car door, the filing states that Camacho ‘repeatedly’ told Hamilton to stop reaching around inside the car and said that she ‘continued to disobey Officer [Camacho’s] orders’.
The Fairfield Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
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