LOS ANGELES – Police will investigate an arrest in which an officer was videotaped tackling a handcuffed woman to the ground, said Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck.
"My initial review of the officers' statements and the recorded video cause me to have serious concerns about this use of force," Beck said in a statement Tuesday. "We will investigate this thoroughly and hold our officers accountable for their actions."
Michelle Jordan, 34, was arrested in the Tujunga area on Aug. 21 after being stopped for talking on a cellphone while driving, police said.
Jordan, a registered nurse from Sunland, got out of the car. She argued with and cursed the two officers who stopped her, witnesses and Jordan's husband told KNBC-TV.
Fast-food restaurant surveillance video that was obtained by KNBC-TV shows officers taking her to the ground. After she is handcuffed and walked to a police car, the 5-foot-4 woman is tackled a second time by an officer who lands on top of her.
"She made some unwise moves," her attorney, Sy Nazif, told the station. "But certainly nothing that warranted a physical assault from the LAPD."
"At no point was she a threat to these officers, and she was in cuffs," Nazif said. "We give them authority and power. If somebody says the wrong thing, they can't use that, use that authority to physically attack her."
Photos produced by her attorney appeared to show scrapes on her face, shoulders and chest. She was booked on suspicion of resisting arrest and released.
The officers were removed from patrol duty until the LAPD investigation is complete. One is a 22-year veteran and the other is a probationary officer with 10 months on the force.
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