A video is making its rounds on social media sites and the content is bewildering.
Apparently, 24-year-old Amanda Jo Stephen was handcuffed for jaywalking in Austin, Texas and then thrown to the ground for the minor offense.
According to Huffington Post, Stephen didn’t hear the officer ask her to stop jogging after she was caught jaywalking, which makes sense because she had earbuds in.
Chris Quintero, who was sitting at a coffee shop across the street, saw the whole thing and started to film the incident.
He wrote his account of the scene:
“Startled, and not knowing it was a cop, she jerked her arm away. The cop viewed this as resisting arrest and proceeded to grab both arms tightly, placing her in handcuffs.”
As she tries to stand back up, the cop continues pushing Stephen to the ground. She is also heard saying “I was doing nothing wrong; I was crossing the street.” Later on, she screams out and cries as four officers come to force her into a police car, during which she reportedly refused to give police her name.
She was arrested for failure to obey a pedestrian control device, as well as failure to identify herself.
Police Department Chief Art Acevedo said that he thinks the officer did nothing wrong, and that Stephen did it to herself:
“She did the limp routine,” he said at a press conference. “In 28 years of law enforcement I can tell you it happens all the time.”
We aren’t officers of the law but it doesn’t take one to know that this treatment is a bit harsh for someone who crosses the street when they aren’t supposed to.
SOURCE: Huffington Post
