New York City Police Department Video: Pregnant Woman Thrown on Ground by Officer in Brooklyn
Sandra Amezquita, a five-months pregnant Brooklyn woman, was grabbed by the arm and thrown to the pavement by a police officer at 2:15 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20 in Sunset Park; the event marking the continuation of police violence against non-whites and women with impunity.
Video footage captured the clearly pregnant 43-year-old woman being tackled by a police officer. The recording shows an officer slamming her to the ground, straddling her and handling violently as the father of the unborn child, Ronel Lemos, watched in horror.
"The first thing I thought was they killed my baby and they're going to kill my wife," Lemos, 50, told the Daily News on Tuesday.
Amezquita, who's a Colombian immigrant and mother of four, became involved in the violent scene after witnessing police beating her son while arresting him. Jhohan Lemos, 17, was being arrested for the criminal possession of a deadly weapon (a knife), harassment and for resisting arrest.
A low-resolution photo released by the New York Daily News shows that Lemos sustained many bruises after his run-in with police. His right eye was swollen shut, and marks covered his face..
Amezquita was given a summons for disorderly conduct. She also suffered vaginal bleeding and sustained bruises on her arm and her belly, which is now "black and blue."
"What we saw in that gruesome video is a woman who's trying to protect her son, who is being stopped and frisked by police, and she herself became a victim, slammed onto the floor," said Dennis Flores, from local blog El Grito de Sunset Park, the site that first posted the video.
Her husband, Ronel Lemos, was arrested for assaulting Officer Elvis Merizalde, striking him in the back of shoulder when Jhohan was being arrested. Both parents were charged with "obstructing governmental administration, harassment and assault on a police officer."
The arresting officer is the second from the 72nd Precinct to be under investigation by Internal Affairs, the first for kicking a street vendor in the head. Sanford Rubenstein, a civil rights lawyer retained by Amezquita and Lemos, has stated both videos depicting alleged police brutality were recorded by the same bystander.