‘Disturbing’ Video Captures L.A. Deputy Throwing Woman to Ground Outside Grocery Store

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office has released body cam footage of a sheriff's deputy using what Sheriff Robert Luna has described as “disturbing” amounts of force on a Black woman.

The footage was taken on June 24, after deputies responded to reports of two people robbing a WinCo Foods store, in Lancaster, California.

When they arrived, they handcuffed one of the suspects, a Black man. The other person involved, a woman, began recording the events on her phone.

The bodycam footage shows that after detaining the man, the deputies turned to the woman and began approaching her.

"You can't touch me," the woman said.

The deputies then grabbed the woman by the arm and pushed her onto the ground. While she was already lying on the pavement, the deputy said, “get on the ground.” 

As the woman screamed, one of the deputies told her repeatedly to stop. 

“Stop or you’re going to get punched in the face,” he said, at one point. 

“I can’t breathe, there’s no fight, you shoved me down onto the ground,” the woman responded. 

The woman was subsequently pepper-sprayed and handcuffed. 

The man was later arrested and accused of interfering with a business, petty theft or attempted petty theft and resisting or delaying an officer, according to Luna. The woman was arrested and accused of assaulting an officer and battery. 

Prior to the bodycam footage being released, the encounter had already provoked protests among community members.

The activist group Cancel the Contract, which advocates for defunding police, held a rally outside the store, on Wednesday, according to ABC7.

Raquel Derfler, a member of the group, told reporters that the response was disproportionate to the alleged crime of stealing a cake.

"That's how they came in hot," Derfler said to ABC7.

"As though they were brandishing firearms or attacking or assaulting members of the community when it was simply a cake."

In a press conference Wednesday, Luna said that the L.A. County Sheriff's Office was conducting an investigation into the events. 

“There’s a lot to this,” he said. “So I ask for the community’s patience to allow us to look at this objectively and figure out exactly what happened.”

The deputies involved in the incident were taken off field duty, according to a statement from the LA County Sheriff's Office. 

The two people arrested have not been publicly identified.