A Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy punched a mother in the face as she held her 3-week-old baby in her arms.
Video from the July 2022 traffic stop was released Wednesday night showing the woman begging the deputy not to take her infant for several minutes before he throws two overhead punches at her head, and it came to light after Sheriff Robert Luna called a news conference to release the body-camera footage and turn the investigation over to the FBI and local prosecutors, reported the Los Angeles Times.
“I found the punching of the woman and the circumstances completely unacceptable,” Luna said.
The sheriff said he learned of the incident only a few days ago and "took swift action," and county supervisor Kathryn Barger called the video “gut-wrenching" but credited Luna for bringing the case to light," while supervisor Janice Hahn called for the deputy to be fired for his "appalling" actions.
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“This deputy does not belong in our Sheriff’s Department,” Hahn said.
Luna said deputies from the Palmdale station stopped a vehicle for driving without headlights just before midnight on July 13 last year, and they said they noticed the smell of alcohol inside the vehicle, where three of the four women inside were holding babies in their arms instead of using car seats.
They arrested the women on suspicion of child endangerment and arrested a male driver on suspicion of felony child endangerment, as well as driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license.
The deputies used force on two of the women, including the one shown in the eight-minute video, which shows one of the women sitting cross-legged on the ground and clutching her baby -- which she refused to give up so she could be placed under arrest.
“Y’all gonna have to shoot me dead to take my baby from my arms,” the woman says, and then a struggle ensues.
