The lawyer of a pregnant woman who
appears to be slammed into the ground by
NYPD officers in a recently released video
now says officers also beat the woman's
belly with a baton.
Sandra Amezquita, 44, allegedly tried to
intervene in the arrest of her teenaged son,
who police say had an illegal knife clipped
to his belt, according to the Wall Street
Journal. Video of the incident was posted to
Facebook by social justice group El Grito De
Sunset Park earlier this week.
At a Wednesday press conference,
Amezquita and her lawyer released images
of injuries to the woman’s abdomen that
they say came from an officer’s baton, CBS
New York reports.
“She was doing nothing wrong, an innocent
victim,” her attorney, Sanford Rubenstein,
said at the press conference. “And certainly
a pregnant woman—any woman—should
not be treated the way she was."
Amezquita also claimed that police burned
her belly with a Taser, but Rubenstein said
it’s unclear whether that occurred.
After the incident, Rubenstein says his
client suffered vaginal bleeding, according
to the New York Times. She was treated at a
hospital, he said, but it’s unclear if the
officers’ actions affected the fetus.
NYPD officers say they approached the teen
at about 2 a.m. Saturday in Brooklyn, and
he fled about a block before they caught
him to him. Then, cops say, his father, Ronel
Lemos, and another man allegedly began
punching an officer.
Though Amezquita was charged with
disorderly conduct, she is not accused of
assaulting any officers. Nevertheless, after
the video of her arrest, released Tuesday,
appears to show officers shoving the 5-
months-pregnant woman to the ground
belly-first.
When a female bystander tries to get
between Amezquita and the officers, she too
appears to be slammed to the pavement.
At the press conference, Amezquita said she
only approached her son to “console” him
before police officers began brutalizing her.
The NYPD has launched an internal
investigation into the officers' treatment of
Amezquita.
m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5884104