Christina West brutally handled by Tallahassee cops, graphic video released
Christina West, a 44-year-old Florida woman was brutally handled by the Tallahassee cops during a DUI arrest on August 10. West who was allegedly drunk had driven her car right into a house on Kilkenny Drive.
A graphic video, courtesy of a dashboard camera inside the TPD car was obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat. The graphic video shows the cops manhandling the petite woman, pushing her to the patrol car and later to the pavement, while a cop smashed her face. Eventually, West was pushed in the back seat of the car. West suffered from a broken orbital bone in her face and other injuries.
The City of Tallahassee released the video, along with an extensive police report on September 10.
State Attorney Willie Meggs, who has reviewed the video, said that he was “extremely upset.”
“This is a very disturbing situation to me, and I’m dealing with it,” Meggs said.
West’s attorney, Fred Conrad of Tallahassee was “shocked” to see the video. He said, “I would never have expected that out of my police department.” While most of the officials he dealt with are “professional and good cops,” he could not believe that this happened in Tallahassee, Florida.
Police Chief Dennis Jones commented that he was “concerned” and regrets that “Ms. West was injured.”
“We train our officers in appropriate use of force procedures and my job as Chief is to gather all the facts to determine the appropriateness in this case,” Jones said.
An internal investigation is underway.