New Orleans Police: Officer did not use excessive force in breaking up French Quarter fight

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New Orleans Police say an NOPD commander who knocked a woman down twice while trying to break up a fight in the French Quarter in April did not violate department policy, The New Orleans Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reports.

Video was shared on social media that showed  police breaking up a fight at North Peters and Bienville Streets. In it, NOPD Eighth Distr. Commander Octavio Baldassaro is seen pulling one woman out of the fight, causing her to fall to the ground. She is seen hitting Baldassaro when she gets up, and he ends up knocking her to the ground again.

The woman was one of two arrested for disturbing the peace after the fight.

According to the Picayune/Advocate, investigators found other video of the incident that backed up Baldassaro's version of the incident. Baldassaro said he was only trying to pull the woman out of the brawl, and inadvertently threw her to the ground.
Click here to read more from The New Orleans Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.