Bodycam footage has captured the moment a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy punches a woman twice in the face as she holds her three-month-old daughter.
The mother was pulled over for driving without headlights in Palmdale, north of Los Angeles, just before midnight on 13 July last year, Sheriff Robert Luna told a press conference on Wednesday.
According to Sheriff Luna, deputies smelled alcohol as they approached the car and arrested three female passengers who were each holding unrestrained babies, as well as the driver, on felony child endangerment.
The edited bodycam footage shows a stand-off lasting several minutes, as the mother tells deputies: “You’re not taking my baby”.
A female deputy then asks her: “Are you going to give up the baby nicely, or am I going to have the grab him, and they’re going to grab your hands?”
When the mother warns they are going to break the child’s leg, another deputy appears to punch the woman twice in the face.
A woman holding her baby was punched by an Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy during a traffic stop— (NBC News)
The deputies then take the infant away, and handcuff the mother.
Sheriff Luna said the officer’s actions were “completely unacceptable”, and said he had referred the case to the county district attorney’s office for possible prosecution. The FBI has also been notified.
The deputy, who has not been identified, has been relieved of field duty pending the outcome of the investigation, Sheriff Luna said.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna— (Associated Press)
It’s the second time in two weeks Sheriff Luna has criticised the use of force in the Antelope Valley area, 80 miles (130kms) north of downtown LA.
Last week, two deputies were removed from field duty after video emerged showing one violently tackling a woman while she filmed a man being handcuffed, before pepper-spraying her in the face on 24 June.
In both cases, Sheriff Luna said he had only recently learned of the footage.
The former Long Beach Police Department chief was elected sheriff in December last year after defeating controversy-plagued Alex Villanueva.
