MINNEAPOLIS – An investigation is underway into whether Minneapolis police used excessive force during a suspicious vehicle stop.
The woman arrested, who goes by the name “Mixie,” is claiming police used excessive force while arresting her.
In a video, she says an officer “Pushed me to the ground, chipped my tooth, now my face looks f***ed up.”
Just before 2 a.m. on Monday, Mixie said she and her boyfriend got gas at the Super America at the corner of 35th and Nicollet.
They were sitting in her car when she says police walked up to her car.
“They started shouting, ‘Put up your hands,'” she said. “We were very scared. This all happened within like 30 seconds to like a minute to where they pulled out a gun. They thought he was somebody else who had a felony warrant and basically all I can say about that is it was racial profiling. They pretty much admitted that at the end by letting us go with a citation.”
Mixie said she thinks police need better training.
“That’s my goal through all of this,” she said. “We need more accountability so this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
Mixie said she went to the ER and doctors told her she might have suffered a concussion. She also said she has been suffering from headaches. She’s going to the dentist to have her tooth and jaw checked out.
Minneapolis police say their Internal Affairs Unit is conducting a use of force review. They issued a statement on the incident:
“On August 14th, Fifth Precinct Officers pulled over a vehicle, believing the driver had a felony warrant issued for his arrest. Both the driver and passenger refused to follow officer’s directives. After multiple requests for the driver to exit the vehicle, the driver unlocked the vehicle doors. Officers then removed the driver from the vehicle and in doing so smelled the odor of marijuana emanating from within the vehicle. The officers then attempted to remove the passenger from the vehicle to conduct a search for unlawful contraband.
The female passenger ignored the officer’s requests to exit the vehicle and was eventually pulled from the vehicle as she was now obstructing the officers from conducting a search of the vehicle. During the process of removing the passenger she was taken to the ground and placed in handcuffs. Officers then observed that the passenger had an injury to her face and summoned medical attention.
Officers requested a supervisor respond to the scene and conduct a use of force review. This is standard protocol and the force review process is still being conducted by the Minneapolis Police Department’s Internal Affairs Unit. Body camera footage from multiple officers documents the incident from beginning to end. Suspected marijuana was recovered from the vehicle. The passenger refused medical attention before she was cited for obstructing the legal process and possession of marijuana.”
Source: http://www.kare11.com