Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass Thursday is calling the video of a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy from the Palmdale station throwing punches at a woman while she cradled her baby during a traffic stop “enraging and disturbing” and said the acts in the video must be condemned.
“The idea that you would assault a mother with a child in her arms and then subject that child to the child welfare system just because the child didn’t have a car seat is an abuse of power,” Bass said. “When a child goes into the child welfare system, it can take months for that child to be returned. That process can result in lifelong trauma for both the mother and the child.”
The FBI will join local prosecutors in investigating the footage of the deputy throwing punches at a woman while she cradled her baby during a traffic stop, the department announced.
Sheriff Robert Luna told reporters at a news conference Wednesday about his decision regarding the incident that took place in July 2022 and when the department released body camera video footage of the traffic stop..
In the video, a male deputy at the edge of the frame is shown throwing two overhand punches at the woman as she is seen pleading not to take her baby away.
“I found the punching of the woman and the circumstances completely unacceptable,” Luna said.
Luna said he took the “swift action” of relieving the deputy of duty after finding out about the incident a few days ago.
Luna said the traffic stop occurred just before midnight on July 13, 2022, when deputies from the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station noticed a vehicle driving at night without the headlights on, the Los Angeles Times reported.
When they pulled over the driver, the deputies noticed the smell of alcohol coming from inside and saw four women, three of whom were holding babies in their arms instead of using car seats, according to The Times.
The deputies arrested the man driving the vehicle on suspicion of felony child endangerment, as well as driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license.
The women were arrested on the same charges but during the course of arresting them deputies used force with two of them.
“The acts in this video must be condemned openly — and those responsible must be held fully accountable — which is why I want to thank Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna for bringing this video to light,” Bass said. “Transparency and accountability are vital pillars of public safety and I know that Sheriff Luna will work to ensure that those involved in this incident are held appropriately accountable.
On the video released Wednesday, the deputies can be heard saying that the woman was riding in a car driven by someone without a valid license and that her baby was not in a car seat.
They repeatedly asked the woman who was eventually struck in the face to give up the child so she can be placed under arrest, telling her that her infant will be pulled away otherwise.
“Forcefully taking your child from you is not what’s best,” one deputy said. “Taking my child from me is not what’s best,” the woman replies.
The Times reported that after several minutes of back-and-forth, the deputies pulled the woman’s hands apart and she began screaming as the child was taken away.
Another woman who is close by and holding a baby begins screaming and cursing at officers. When deputies state they plan to arrest her as well, she becomes incensed.
“Y’all gonna have to shoot me dead to take my baby from my arms,” she says before a struggle with deputies ensues.
During the confrontation, a male deputy is seen throwing two punches at the woman’s head while she is still holding her baby.
Late Wednesday night, the Association for Los Angeles County Deputies, the union that represents deputies, released a statement saying the video does not tell the entire story about the traffic stop.
“The video makes one thing obvious — police work is demanding and unpredictable. Any dispute over the control of infants on the roadway at 12:30 a.m. during an arrest of the driver of the car these children were riding in without proper restraints is a bad situation. Apparently, our deputies and the on-scene patrol supervisor had determined it wasn’t safe for the children to leave with the parents who were going to be taken into custody,” wrote ALADS President Richard Pippin.
“The physical safety of the infants was clearly our deputies* highest priority as they were seen pleading with the women for a lengthy period. There will be a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking, and some will no doubt say that things could have been done differently.
“We will let the public decide that for themselves.”
Fifth District County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents Palmdale on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, called the video “gut-wrenching. My heart aches for the children that we see in this video and for their mothers,”
Barger added, “To the law enforcement community who will also see this video today and whose work will be judged harshly in the court of public opinion, I want you to know that I value your work.”
The confrontation took place during the tenure of former Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who lost his reelection bid to Luna after a contentious campaign. In a statement to The Times, he called Luna’s statements “extremely disingenuous” and said he hadn’t taken action to terminate the deputy before leaving office because the investigation into the matter had not concluded.
Luna said he could not “speak to what my predecessor did or did not do. The action I am describing to you today is action that I took in the last couple of days.”
“Over the past years, voices demanding change have grown,” Bass said. “Today represents a step towards progress — but also a reminder that we have a long way to go.”