Family of woman seen dragged from police cruiser calling for justice
Officers shown in witness’s video placed on administrative duties, Smiths Falls police chief says
Police drag woman from cruiser after arresting her in Smiths Falls
June 11|
Duration0:33Video filmed by a neighbour captured the altercation on Saturday evening as police dragged a woman from a cruiser and held her down before putting her back in the vehicle.
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The family of a Smiths Falls, Ont., woman is demanding justice after a video surfaced online that appears to show the woman being dragged from a police cruiser and held to the ground after her arrest.
The video, posted anonymously on social media, appears to show one of the officers dragging the handcuffed woman by her left leg from the back seat of Smiths Falls Police Service cruiser parked at a crosswalk. The officer then appears to pin the woman to the ground for about 20 seconds before pulling her to her feet and pushing her back into the car.
Sarah Black, who told CBC she’s the sister of the woman in the video, said she and her parents were distraught after seeing it.
“It is absolutely heartbreaking to watch,” Black told CBC.
According to Smiths Falls police, the 29-year-old woman was arrested after officers were called to a business on Main Street E. where she was allegedly causing a disturbance, including acting belligerently and throwing a table against a wall. The same woman was suspected in an alleged assault that had occurred earlier that evening at a different location.
Police said the woman was arrested and placed in the back of the cruiser where she began spitting and kicking a Plexiglas divider.
The woman is facing one count each of causing a disturbance and uttering threats, and two counts each of mischief under $5,000, assaulting police and failure to comply with probation. She was scheduled to appear in court in Perth, Ont., on Wednesday.
‘Officer should be ashamed’
McKenzie LeClair has now come forward as the woman who captured the incident on video from a nearby window.
“When I started recording I thought it was just going to be like any other arrest, and then I [saw] how the police officer handled her and my stomach just dropped,” she said.
LeClair posted the video on Facebook where it quickly gained traction and sparked outrage among some members of the local community.
Black, who lives in California, said she heard about it from her mother. The family isn’t contesting the woman’s arrest, Black said, but they do want the police officers involved to be held accountable for how they handled the situation.
“There is no reason that that kind of force was necessary in that scenario,” said Black.
Black explained her sister is a “complex person” who has a history of mental health and substance use issues that her family has been trying to help her manage for many years.
“My sister needs help, not more trauma, and officers clearly need better training for mental health intervention if this is how they behave in these kinds of situations,” Black said. “The officer should be ashamed.”
Incident under investigation
Smiths Falls police Chief Jodi Empey confirmed in a statement that she has been made aware of the video circulating on social media.
Empey said both officers who appear in the video have been placed on administrative duties pending an investigation, which will be handled by a different police service.
“We have determined this matter to be an institutional conflict and therefore must refer it to another police service for investigation,” Empey said.
Cornwall Police Service will conduct the investigation, a spokesperson for Smiths Falls Police said, adding that Empey would not be commenting further.
Black said she and her family are awaiting the results of that investigation.
“We want accountability — proper accountability including a full and fair investigation — and if found in the wrong, we want the officer or officers responsible to be charged or fired if necessary,” she said.
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Jodie Applewaithe is an associate producer with CBC Ottawa. You can reach her at jodie.applewaithe@cbc.ca
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Videos capture Sacramento deputy appearing to shove woman to ground outside jail
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Updated: 4:25 PM PST Feb 27, 2025
A Sacramento County Sheriff’s jail deputy remains on leave while investigators look into video showing what appears to be him pushing a woman to the ground while she was being released from custody.
The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office and the sheriff’s Internal Affairs unit are now investigating the alleged use of force.
Multiple body-worn cameras and surveillance videos captured the moments that occurred shortly before midnight on Oct. 7, 2024.
According to audio included in the videos, multiple deputies were in the process of signing out a woman for release from custody. That process included the woman signing a document and answering three questions.
After several minutes of her appearing hesitant to sign while also talking and asking questions about law enforcement conduct, one deputy can be heard using explicit language and tells her, “She needs to stop [expletive] talking.”
After she ultimately signs, a deputy can be seen grabbing the woman by the back of her shirt and the woman can clearly be seen falling to the ground after being apparently shoved.
Moments before falling, the deputy can be heard on camera saying, “Have a good night.” That interaction was also caught by surveillance footage.
Several of the deputies’ faces are blurred out in the videos released online.
“In an effort to educate and disseminate information efficiently, the Sacramento Sheriff’s Office provides this webpage as your resource to review the materials we are legally mandated to disclose,” read an explanation of the sheriff’s transparency webpage.
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