APNewsBreak: LA officer who kicked woman during ultimately fatal arrest charged with assault

Published January 13, 2015

A Los Angeles police officer has been charged with assault for allegedly repeatedly kicking a woman in the groin during an arrest in which the woman ultimately died.

Defense attorney Robert Pico says his client, 18-year-veteran Officer Mary O'Callaghan, was charged Thursday with one felony count of assault under color of authority.

A Police Commission review of the 2012 incident concluded O'Callaghan used unreasonable force on 35-year-old Alesia Thomas, who was restrained and in the backseat of a cruiser.

O'Callaghan was relieved of duty pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing.

Police say Thomas was being arrested after abandoning her two children at a police station at 2 a.m. because she was a drug addict and couldn't care for them.

Pico says O'Callaghan has never had a sustained complaint.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/us/apnewsbreak-la-officer-who-kicked-woman-during-ultimately-fatal-arrest-charged-with-assault