A New York Police District (NYPD) official was caught on video arresting a pregnant woman and slamming her to the ground early Saturday.
In a Facebook video by El Grito De Sunset Park, victim Sandra Amezquita, who is five months pregnant, was shown being manhandled by a police then rode her with her belly on the ground. She apparently intervened while the police tried to arrest her 17-year-old son for knife possession, New York Daily News reported.
The incident happened at around 2:15 a.m. in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Another woman, who seems to be Amezquita’s friend, tried to check on her but was also thrown to the ground.
“The first thing I thought was they killed my baby and they’re going to kill my wife,” said Amezquita’s husband, Ronald Lemos.
In an interview with the Daily News, Amezquita, 43, was still in shock by the events.
“You would think the police would respect a woman that is pregnant,” she said. “I was afraid something happened to my baby. I am still afraid that something is wrong,” she said, referring to her abdominal pains.
She suffered from vaginal bleeding after the incident and bruises are still visible in her arms and belly.
Amezquita was given a summons for disorderly conduct while her husband was arrested for assaulting a police officer.
The officer, whose name is not yet released by the NYPD, is the second cop from the 72nd Precinct in a week to be embroiled in a controversy. The first officer was caught on cam kicking a street vendor and was later suspended.
The incident is now being investigated by the NYPD Internal Affairs division.
