Mother punched in face by cop while holding her baby sues Los Angeles Sheriff's Department

A woman who was punched in the face by a cop while she was holding her baby is suing the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department for excessive force and wrongful arrest, the Associated Press reported.

Yeayo Russell filed the lawsuit Tuesday in regard to a July 2022 traffic stop in Palmdale, California.

Russell was a passenger in the car that was pulled over for driving without headlights. When deputies looked inside the vehicle, they smelled alcohol and found three babies who were being held rather than being strapped in car seats, the report said.

The driver was arrested for having a suspended license, driving under the influence of alcohol and child endangerment. Russell and three other women in the car were detained on suspicion of child endangerment.

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When deputies asked Russell to hand over her baby, she replied, “You’ll have to shoot me dead before you take my baby." She then began to fight with the deputies as they tried to take the baby from her, the report said.

At one point during the struggle, a deputy punches her in the face more than once before she is handcuffed, according to the report.

Russell spent four days in jail after the incident.

“Hours and hours she had no idea where her child was. Hours and hours she had no idea if her child was OK,” said Jamon Hicks, one of her attorneys.