July 16, 2015
This is the moment a Colorado cop knocked out a woman’s teeth while she was handcuffed in a hospital.
Newly released video shows a Colorado Springs police officer grabbing an 18-year-old girl out of her seat and slamming her face-down into the ground during a November 2013 arrest that resulted in her losing two of her front teeth.
The footage was obtained by the Colorado Springs Independent amid an ongoing civil lawsuit being pursued by the teen, Alexis Acker.
“This is a very violent attack on someone who is in handcuffs, who is partially restrained and tiny, and there’s just no need for it,” Acker’s criminal attorney Cindy Hyatt told the newspaper Wednesday.
“You can’t have something like this. It’s unacceptable,” she added. “As a patrol officer in particular, that’s part of the job, dealing with that without planting someone’s face in the floor.”
Colorado Springs officer Tyler Walker said he “forcefully threw” the teen on the ground after she kicked him in the groin while sitting in the chair, according to police reports obtained by the Independent.
Hyatt told the Daily News that Acker didn’t kick him in the groin and instead made contact with an item he was holding in his hand.
“You can see that in the video. That is what she makes contact with,” she told the News. “I think it’s pretty obvious from the video she did not kick him in the groin.”
Officers were sent to Acker’s apartment on Nov. 21, 2013 after calls of a disturbance involving a gun, the lawyer said.
They found no probable cause, but found an apparently drunk Acker with her boyfriend, who was wanted on an outstanding warrant.
Acker was arrested on multiple charges, including resisting arrest and assault on a police officer, after she became “physically combative” with police.
The police officer then took her to Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs before driving her to jail.
Acker has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor obstruction of a police officer and felony menacing, receiving a deferred sentence on the felony, Hyatt said.
She said the incident left her with post-traumatic stress disorder, cognitive difficulties, among other health issues, according to a notice of claim filed with the city in May.
Walker remains on the police force, a Colorado Springs police spokeswoman told the Independent.