Body cams capture girl's violent takedown by deputy
SONOMA, Calif. -- Video footage of the violent takedown of a teenage girl by a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy last year has been publicly released.
CBS San Francisco reports that the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office released video footage from the body-worn cameras documenting the arrest of Gabrielle Lemos on June 14, 2015, as well as subsequent recordings of her telephone calls from jail.
The sheriff's office released the video and audio recordings Thursday, only after they were introduced as an exhibit in Sonoma County Superior Court, making them public information.
According to the sheriff's office, Deputy Marcus Holton "was in a rural area of Sonoma County when he happened upon a parked pickup truck and trailer that was blocking the road. As he investigated, he heard a woman screaming from the house nearby. He saw a man walking quickly towards the pickup truck from the house with several women yelling at him. One of the women was crying. Based on what he saw and heard he suspected he had encountered a domestic related incident."
The body cam videos, which were posted Thursday evening to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office YouTube Channel, shows Deputy Holton investigating why the truck is stopped with the motor running in the middle of a rural road in Petaluma, and why there is yelling.
In the videos, four women are arguing with Deputy Holton for several minutes and then another deputy arrives on scene. The verbal confrontation continues for several more minutes with the family demanding a female officer.
Holton then takes down Gabrielle as she is walking away, apparently ignoring his orders to stop.
Holton's body camera fell off during the confrontation.
As Gabrielle is loaded into the back of the cruiser, you can see blood on her face.
Gabrielle has since filed a civil rights case against the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office. Shortly after doing so the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office filed charges against her.
Gabrielle's attorney, Izaak Schwaiger, wrote on Facebook Thursday: "Here is the video of a Sonoma County Sheriff's assault on an innocent girl. Share far and wide."
One of the jail phone call audio recordings is of Gabrielle speaking to her mother Michelle Lemos, describing what happened after she left her mother's house in the back of the cruiser.
The contents of the conversations on the video and in the audio recordings contains explicit language.
The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office released the following statement:
"Deputy Holton was well within his authority and Sheriff's Office policy to investigate this matter for a possible criminal violation. His conduct and that of the other Deputies involved has been reviewed by Sheriff's Office Administrators and we are confident they acted honorably and appropriately during this tense rapidly evolving situation."