Viral video shows woman being hit by Vallejo officer
A video of a Vallejo police officer hitting a woman during an arrest Friday has gone viral.
The bystander video, which had more than 783,000 views on TikTok as of Sunday night, shows the officer striking the woman’s face while she is on the ground.
The Vallejo Police Department posted information about the arrest to Facebook, saying the woman who was struck was suspected of theft, and had refused to yield during a traffic stop by police. After a pursuit, the suspect ran a red light and collided with two vehicles, an SUV and a cement truck, according to police. A passenger then fled the vehicle on foot, police said.
The TikTok video, which was taken in the aftermath of the collision, shows an officer walking up to the driver’s side of the car, opening the door and leaning in. It is unclear whether they said anything, as the TikTok video doesn’t pick up much audio of the interaction. The driver’s side airbag appears to have been deployed. A woman then gets out, and the officer grabs her by the arm, slams her into the side of the cement truck and takes her to the ground. When she is on the ground, the officer hits her. The video picks up what is apparently the woman saying, “You hit me in my face.”
The officer then handcuffs the woman while she is pinned to the ground. The video ends with the officer lifting the woman to her feet and leading her away.
The Vallejo Police Department post on Facebook said that before the interaction, a loss prevention officer at a local business had contacted the agency and identified the driver and passenger of a Nissan Altima as the suspects in the theft of more than $1,000 worth of merchandise. A Vallejo police officer tried to stop the Altima, but the driver did not yield, prompting a pursuit that ended with the car crashing into two vehicles after running a red light, police said.
One driver in the impacted vehicles was injured, police posted.
After the crash, the incident captured in the TikTok video ensued.
According to the Vallejo police, the woman in the driver’s seat had attempted to flee. The officer had tried to pin her against the truck before performing a “control hold take down,” police posted. When the woman was on the ground, the officer struck her when she continued to resist, according to police.
The police posted that two witnesses got out of their vehicles and helped apprehend the passenger of the Nissan Altima who fled on foot.
The car had about $2,000 of stolen merchandise in it, according to police. The driver was also on felony probation for grand theft and shoplifting, and the arrested passenger had a $10,000 warrant for her arrest in San Mateo for burglary and a $50,000 warrant in Napa for grand theft.
The driver and passenger were taken to a hospital, then arrested and booked into jail.
The bystander who posted the TikTok video could not be immediately reached for comment.
The Vallejo Police Department has been marred by lawsuits over its use of force, with the city paying more than $15 million to settle such suits from 2003 to 2020.
The city also declared a state of emergency in July over a shortage of police officers at the behest of its police chief.