Video Shows Officer Face-Plant Woman – Breaks 4 Bones, Knocks Out Teeth
Video has surfaced showing a California woman getting face-planted while being booked at the Santa Rita jail after being arrested on March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day, of last year.
Megan Sheehan suffered four broken bones in her face, and had several teeth knocked out as the result of the take-down.
Sheehan had ended up at the Lake Merritt Bay Area Rapid Transit(BART) station after a heavy night of drinking.
A BART officer arrested Sheehan who admits to being drunk and belligerent, but the woman says her crime doesn’t fit the punishment she received.
“I should have never gotten that drunk, but also there are ways to detain someone and not break their face,” Sheehan said. “I don’t believe that they should have broken four bones in my face and knocked out some of my teeth.”
Surveillance footage from the Santa Rita Jail shows Sheehan at the booking counter.
After some kind of altercation with the officers, an Oakland cop grabs the woman’s right hand while the arresting BART officer takes her left hand and throws her to the ground, face-first.
The footage shows Sheehan lying unconscious in a pool of blood before nurses are called. She was treated and taken to a nearby hospital.
Watch the raw footage:
Police reports state Sheehan was “violently punching” the officer before being “guided to the ground.”
Sheehan and her lawyer dispute that claim.
“They knew by throwing her to the ground without having her hands available to break the fall, that she was going to suffer serious head injuries,” Sheehan’s attorney, John Scott said. “I believe she had to be taught a lesson. In police jargon, she flunked the attitude test.”
Sheehan, who works as a bartender and model, says it took a long time to recover from her physical injuries and she’s still suffering psychological issues.
She has filed an excessive force lawsuit against BART and the Oakland Police Department.
BART and Oakland police have refused to comment on an ongoing investigation. The officers involved have not been identified.
Update: The unidentified officer involved has been cleared of wrongdoing for the take-down.
