Valenzuela recalled being in immense pain as she tried to lie down on the floor of the jail cell: “I was really bruised from head to toe, everything hurt.” She also said she didn’t believe she was in the wrong lane and that, although officers didn’t find her ID, she believes it was somewhere in the car. Valenzuela said she had been drinking earlier in the day, but was not intoxicated at the time, which was substantiated by a blood and breath test. The most serious charge was resisting arrest, classified as a violent felony for risking “physical injury” to the officer. Valenzuela was taken to jail and ticketed for a range of misdemeanors, including failure to have ID on her, “failure to comply with an officer”, driving “left of center” and a DUI “impaired to slightest degree”. Valenzuela said ‘everything hurt’ after she was arrested by Phoenix police. When one officer later noted that she was bleeding, he responded, “She’s just going to complain to complain.” McGillis did not suggest she might be intoxicated until 30 minutes into the arrest when other officers arrived and asked him what happened. Photos taken by police showed Valenzuela suffered bruises and cuts in multiple places on her face, bloodshot eyes, a gash on the top of her head, injuries on her hand and leg. That same officer acknowledged she might need stitches, and that McGillis had banged her head. And after another officer learned of the injuries, he directed the police on scene “just to CYA ” when writing follow-up reports.Īn officer told a supervisor, over the phone Valenzuela had blood all over her hand “because she was wiping it over and over again”. Out of her earshot, one of the officers said Valenzuela was “looney tunes” and “all over the place”. The footage showed that other officers later arrived at the scene. “You said you didn’t have any ID!” he shouted as he held her down. McGillis told her to “act like a young lady” as she begged him to stop and asked him to explain why he was arresting her. “Someone, please, help! I did nothing wrong, sir,” she’s heard shouting. Valenzuela then started screaming and crying, saying McGillis was “manhandling” her and hurting her. Seconds later, the footage shows McGillis grabbing and slamming her while yelling to put her hands behind her back. The body-camera footage shows McGillis asking Valenzuela for her ID and her calmly explaining that she didn’t have it on her. Valenzuela pulled into the nearest parking lot, got out of her car and asked why he stopped her. Valenzuela was pulled over shortly after leaving a restaurant for a takeout order on her way home before midnight on 17 January.īody-cam footage documents officer McGillis announcing on his radio he was about to pull someone over who had been driving in a wrong lane. Photograph: Courtesy James Palestini ‘I was bruised from head to toe’
Valenzuela sustained injuries after Phoenix police pulled her over on 17 January.
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