Police defend ‘violent’ arrest of woman seen on video

Montreal police are defending the actions of two officers whose arrest of a young woman on the street left her with a bloody nose and screaming in pain.

Jeremiah Hayes, who was riding his bike near Berri and Ontario Sts. on Thursday afternoon, recorded the altercation on his cellphone after hearing the woman’s shouts.

In the video, the woman can be heard screaming “my arm hurts” as the two officers push her against their patrol car.

One of the officers appears to raise his arm and strike her in the head.

The woman’s nose was bloodied by the time she was finally pushed into the vehicle.

Hayes said the woman looked like “a little kid” and “it was just unbelievable that this guy could be so violent.”

Jonathan Martel, commander of the SPVM’s communication division, said police took the woman into custody because she was consuming narcotics and acting erratically.

“While they were arresting the woman, what happened according to what we know, is that she bit a police officer in the arm.

“The officer tried to pull his arm away from the woman as a first step, and when he was unable to do so, he delivered a blow to the woman’s head.”

The woman was arrested on charges of drug possession and assault.

Hayes said it’s not the first time he’s recorded police making an arrest, and they don’t always behave aggressively.

On one occasion, he filmed four officers arrest a man who became agitated. They remained calm and made the arrest without incident.