Video Shows 9 Months Pregnant, Handcuffed Woman Punched by Texas Police
Video
April 09, 2015 "ICH"
- "RT"
-
A Texas woman has accused a cop of beating her when she was 38 weeks pregnant.
Thanks to a surveillance system in her parents’ home, a video has been published
online that appears to prove her allegations. An investigation is under way.
The Hunt County sheriff’s deputy has been identified as one of several officers
who stood in the woman’s home in Quinlan on the evening of March 4. Two officers
can be seen keeping Deanna Robinson in the corner of her kitchen, next to the
counter, restraining her, as her 18-month-old toddler watched.
Next, the deputy can clearly be seen taking at least two quick punches at
Robinson, who wouldn’t stop yelling. This was after she shouted, “I’m pregnant.”
She was handcuffed during this, she told the attorney’s office on Monday,
according to WFAA.
Robinson, 38, is a decorated Air Force veteran and recipient
of the Airman’s Medal for the time she pulled her colleagues out of a burning
plane in Iraq. She now lives in Quinlan, with another infant and three step
children, aged six to nine. But her marriage had been undergoing a turbulent
period lately, which culminated in a shoving match with her husband several days
prior to the incident.
Apparently, one of the kids told a teacher at school, who then
reported the couple to Child Protection Services.
She was arrested on March 4 on charges of resisting arrest, assaulting a police
officer and interference with child custody, and spent some six days in jail.
The court case was over her 18-month-old son, Landry. The rest
of the children are now in protective custody, while the infant son, Levi – who
was born less than a week after her release from custody, is with grandparents.
That evening, child services officials showed up at Robinson’s
home, accompanied by sheriff’s deputies, to take Landry away.
"I'm 38 weeks pregnant, and with my stomach again
repeatedly pressed into that counter, and with my 18-month old son watching his
mother be assaulted, and him screaming in fear," she
says. "There's nothing that warrants what they did to me."
She remembers the officers telling her ‘We’re here to
remove your son,’ and her replying, ‘Nobody is touching my kid without a court
order or a warrant.’ The officers reportedly did not present any papers
and, when she tried to shut the door on them, forced their way in.
She tells WFAA: “I’m positioning myself in front of my
child as the officers are screaming, ‘There’s the kid, grab him!’” That’s
when they proceeded to handcuff her as she was pressed up against the kitchen
surface.
The police, however, had a different narrative to the story:
that Robinson was reaching for a weapon. The evidence will be reviewed to
establish the truth. The sheriff later told reporters he was not sure what went
down, but that the unidentified deputy said Robinson had loosened his ammunition
belt in the chaos.
In the video, Robinson can be seen struggling with the
officers, something she only says she did because the pressure they were
applying when pressing into her was hurting her unborn child.
She later told reporters the officers hit her five or six
times. The video cuts off just before the deputy’s hand comes down on her a
second time. Robinson also reported lingering pain for weeks, and her stomach
appears to show bruising from the incident.
She’s thankful Levi is a healthy child. “It certainly
could have turned out differently.” She says she misses her kids very much
and that she’ll be pushing for the officer responsible for hitting her
repeatedly to be fired.
Dozens of calls came to the sheriff’s department following the
release of the video. Hundreds of concerned citizens also posted on the
department’s Facebook page, voicing outrage, while the town of Quinlan also saw
people go out on to the streets, encouraging others to view the video.
The sheriff department’s Facebook page showed a statement from
Sheriff Randy Meeks, saying that all such cases are handled with the utmost
seriousness and that an investigation is under way to determine “if any
violations occurred.” He promised to make the findings public.
Robinson’s attorney Carol Gustin told reporters “There’s
no reason in my mind that an officer should pull his hand up above his body and
hit a pregnant woman multiple times. Law officers are there to protect and
serve. Where was the protection for her and this baby?"
Her other attorney, Scott Cornuaud, believes Child Protective
Services is to blame for involving the police at all. “They’re out of
control. There’s no oversight. They went about it the wrong way.”
CPS was onsite when the incident with the police took place.
Cornuaud wonders why they did not intervene when a pregnant woman was being hit.
It is unacceptable to slander, smear or engage in personal attacks on authors of articles posted on ICH.
Those engaging in that behavior will be banned from the comment section.
In accordance
with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material
is distributed without profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving the
included information for research and educational
purposes. Information Clearing House has no
affiliation whatsoever with the originator of
this article nor is Information ClearingHouse
endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)