LOS ANGELES (AP) — At least five police officers are under investigation after a woman died during a violent arrest in which an officer stomped on her genitals, police Chief Charlie Beck said.
"I take all in-custody death investigations very seriously," LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said Thursday in a statement to the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/PCKBNT). "I am confident we will get to the truth no matter where that leads us."
Alesia Thomas died July 22, after she left her 3-year-old and 12-year-old at a police station, surrendering custody because she was a drug addict who could not care for them, according to Deputy Chief Bob Green.
Police tracked down the South Los Angeles resident and were trying to arrest Thomas on suspicion of child endangerment, police said. The incident was caught on a patrol car camera.
One officer knocked her to the ground by sweeping her legs out from beneath her and two other officers then handcuffed Thomas behind her back and attempted to lead her to a patrol car, according to the department's official report. Two other officers also arrived at the scene.
Green said Thomas was a large woman and officers used a "hobble restraint device" — a strap that was wrapped around her ankles.
Green confirmed to the Times that during the struggle to get Thomas into the back of the patrol car, a female officer kicked Thomas in the genitals.
Once Thomas was in the car, the video shows her breathing shallowly until she draws her last breath.
Beck wants to investigate whether she was intoxicated at the time of the altercation, or if her death may have been caused by a medical condition.
In a separate incident that was also videotaped, two officers were shown slamming a handcuffed woman to the ground. Beck announced Wednesday that he was transferring a captain from his command in response to that incident.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.