Posted on 01/16/2020 4:47:48 PM PST by nickcarraway
Officer David Hynes had just helped hog-tie a badly bleeding woman and force her into the back of his patrol car when he turned his bodycam off. After depositing the woman in his vehicle, he walked over to a handful of other Phoenix police officers, one of whom noted they were being recorded across the street. The last thing he said before he shut the camera off for five minutes was, “I hit her ...”
What he meant by that is unclear, and the Phoenix Police Department declined to explain it.
The worrisome half-sentence and inexplicable bodycam shutoff are among the many questionable moments that occur in the footage taken on that March 2019 afternoon.
The next day, the woman Hynes arrested for allegedly resisting arrest, 31-year-old Emily Lopatofsky, was released from jail. She then went missing for six months, sending her family into an emotional tailspin. Lopatofsky is severely mentally ill and has been diagnosed with psychosis and dissociative identity disorder.
Phoenix New Times detailed her disappearance and subsequent recovery last year. Lopatofsky was ultimately found — confused, haggard, and pregnant — nearly 2,000-miles away in a hospital in Cancún, Mexico.
Gladys Jahn, her mother, believes her daughter was trafficked across the border and sexually assaulted on multiple occasions during her disappearance in Mexico. Jahn worked with the U.S. State Department to retrieve her daughter from Cancún. Lopatofsky is now back home in Phoenix, receiving treatment for her mental illness, but she is also facing several criminal charges.
Over the summer, Jahn filed a notice of claim — a precursor to a lawsuit — against the city, alleging that a Phoenix police officer’s violent arrest of her daughter caused her to have a psychotic break and disappear.
(Excerpt) Read more at phoenixnewtimes.com ...
Is that Patricia Arquette?
Any cop disabling their body cam should be summarily fired with loss of all benefits.
L
Agreed!
I watched only the early parts after the girl injects herself into the situation and the last two minutes where she suddenly gets romantic (I want a kiss). I did not see any cop turn off his body cam nor did I see the cops do anything wrong.
If anyone cares to post where these events occur (timewise) it would be helpful to all.
They were lucky the police did not shoot them.
agree....turning off your cam should be at least 5 days without pay....
Maybe the cop was Laz and what he actually said was, "I'd hit her..."
Video skipping and sound on/off:
1. The body camera skipped and had the sound cut off at 4:41, at 5:23 the sound was back on.
2. At 9:49 the video skipped as Officer Hynes said "I hit her..." The video started back up a second or two later, from where officers were standing. The sound was back on at 10:19. Lopatofsky was definitely hitting him.
3. 11:00 questioning of the person Hynes had a warrant to arrest.
4. At 12:30 after interviewing the suspect the camera shuts off and starts back up. Lopatofsky is talking nonsense.
5. 13:44 Hynes turns the mike off and says something to a blurred out passer by. 13:59 he turns the mike back on. Camera and mike stay on until the end.
I’m kind of stunned that NONE of the officers thought that JUST MAYBE (sarc) the woman was having mental issues and that maybe paramedics should be called to deal with her. The cop showed by some of his dialogue that he was more interested in defending himself against possible future “excessive force” charges than he was interested in the disturbed woman’s well being.
Being a cop can be tough at times. Some people are simply not cut out for it.
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