A Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy who punched a woman in the face twice during a traffic stop last year is no longer in the field, Sheriff Robert Luna announced Wednesday.
The incident occurred on July 13, 2022, when deputies from the Palmdale station pulled over a car driving without headlights shortly before midnight. During the stop, the deputies allegedly smelled alcohol in the vehicle.
Along with the male driver, there were four women in the car, holding three infants in their laps without car seats. They were all arrested for felony child endangerment.
“During the arrests of the females, a use of force occurred on two of the women to affect the arrest and gain control of the infants,” Luna said.
Body-worn camera footage of the incident, which was released Wednesday, shows a woman sitting cross-legged on the ground, pleading with the deputies to let her call someone to pick up her baby and take them home. The woman explains that she was dropped off somewhere and stranded without a car seat, and she had no choice but to ride home with the baby in her lap.
“I’ve never been in trouble, I’ve never had a warrant, I’ve never had anything, why can’t I just take my baby?” the woman says.
The deputies tell her that if she doesn’t hand over the baby, they’ll take it from her by force. After several minutes of discussion, the deputies pry the crying baby out of the woman’s arms, then pull her up and lead her toward their vehicle.
At that point, the deputies turn their focus to another mother who is standing near the back of a car holding a three-week-old infant. “Y'all gonna have to shoot me dead to take my baby from my arms,” she yells.
The deputies then restrain the woman and forcibly take the baby out of her arms while she screams. In the struggle, a deputy punches the woman twice in the face. She screams in pain.
“I found the punching of the woman in these circumstances unacceptable,” Luna said. “I was elected as Sheriff to keep our communities safe, and to bring new leadership and accountability to this department. And that’s exactly what we will do. My goal is to ensure services are respectful, empathetic, and constitutional.”
Shortly after the incident, which occurred before Luna was elected sheriff, the use of force was investigated by the Internal Affairs Bureau. Luna learned about the incident “several days ago,” he said, and immediately took action to notify the District Attorney for criminal consideration.
The L.A. FBI office will also look into the incident, Luna said.
State law prevents Luna from disclosing any specific disciplinary actions that were taken, but he confirmed the deputy who punched the woman is “not in the field.”
He also noted that a separate deputy caught on camera slamming a woman to the ground outside a Lancaster grocery store in June has been relieved of duty.
L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents Palmdale, called the body camera video "gut-wrenching." L.A. Mayor Karen Bass described it as "enraging and disturbing" and an "abuse of power."
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