Posted on 01/18/2013 3:14:58 PM PST by rawhide
The pregnant Los Angeles woman who was brutally hogtied by California Highway Patrolmen in August 2011 after being pulled over for chatting on her cell phone while driving has finally received retribution in the form of a $250,000 settlement.
According to the LA Times, Tamara Gaglione, 30, was hauled away and charged with misdemeanor evading and resisting arrest and driving on a suspended license.
Those charges were dropped, however, once Gaglione's terrible treatment was revealed in footage from the cruiser's video camera.
It is unclear in the grainy video exactly how aggressive, if at all, Gaglione was toward the cops. What is clear, though, is that Hernandez and Martinez drew their weapons on the unarmed Gaglione as they approached her and forced her onto the ground.
Hernandez later claimed Gaglione did not tell them of her pregnancy until after she was on the ground, but Gaglione said she told the officers as they approached her.
Hogtied, Gaglione was subsequently taken away in a patrol car.
Gaglione filed suit against the department and the officers involved, but the video evidence that eventually won Gaglione $250,000 this past November was not immediately forthcoming. Gaglione's attorney Howard Price claimed that Hernandez failed to check a box on the arrest report stating a video camera had, in fact, recorded the incident.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The department I worked for arrested and fired the Chief of Police for DWI.
What was it you were saying again?
I think they needed at least six or seven more cops. And amazing restraint on their part by not using less than lethal firepower on that cellphone-wielding secretary...I mean perpetrator.
Yeah, the cops were WAY out of line, probably criminal in this case. Is cell phone while driving an arrestable offense in Cali?
The woman didn't resist at all, from my perspective. Why they drew down on her should be a mystery to any sentient person.
She deserved the settlement.
True. They were way out of line.
Good thing she didn’t have a dog.
Does it ever cross your mind that I was drawing a contrast from my own experience with a woman who DID require hogtying with this one who obviously didn't?
This incident was blatant abuse of power. I even thought I saw a little knee-kick in there, which makes it assault.
How would they know at the start of a traffic stop anyway? Do CA drivers now wear chips to be identified with a dash scanner?
How could I have been so misinformed?
What was it you were saying again?
There are two types of cops in this world --those who've been caught in their lies and those who have yet to be caught lying.
What was the name of the police chief, and when was he arrested, occifer?
So these cops should be treated like criminals, following your logic.
They absolutely should be treated as criminals, because they are criminals. Google up 18USC242 sometime.
No more than a misdemeanor “criminal” should be treated. Excessive use of force was definitely the issue here, and that borders on assault - a crime.
Wow...I hope none of the women in your life never have the unfortunate circumstance of being abused by LEO thugs for such minor infractions like talking on their cell phone...
Did you even watch the video...?
I have lost any respect I had remaining for the California Highway Patrol. They harbor and sanctify violent psychopaths.
If I did that to her, I’d be facing more than one felony. Doing so under color of authority should be an aggravating, not a mitigating factor.
The department I worked for arrested and fired the Chief of Police for DWI.
What was it you were saying again?
My husbands best friend is a cop. He wrecked his new Mustang driving over 100 mph after visiting friends and drinking a few beers. I don't know if he drank enough to be impaired but he told my husband he had been drinking and showing off to a friend while driving the friend home.
His "punishment" was a few days of paid sick leave and several months of light duty when he returned to work.
The mitigating factor is that she was arrestable for an offense, at least in Texas (driving with a suspended license.) Once an actor is under arrest, there are grey areas of conduct by the officer, depending on all factors perceived by an officer. I'm not saying that this wasn't a serious abuse of authority, but even as a civilian, this wouldn't have been a felony offense. Let's not make it worse than it appeared; it was indeed alarming and humiliating, but the woman wasn't harmed.
I found out five years later at another routine traffic stop.
Brought the canceled check in, the driving suspended charge was dropped.
Government is neither fast nor efficient and cops are not our overlords.
“I don’t know” is the operative phrase in your post.
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