Attorney Ben Crump speaks at a news conference regarding the death of Brianna Grier on Friday, July 29, 2022. Ron Harris/AP Photo Brianna Grier, 28, died in July after falling out of a police car while handcuffed in the backseat. Her family is now demanding answers after investigators said one of the car’s doors wasn’t closed.
Investigators released bodycam footage showing the events before and after the fatal fall. Georgia authorities on Friday released body camera footage of an incident last month in which a woman died after falling out of a police cruiser while handcuffed. The parents of Brianna Grier, 28, said they called 911 after she suffered a mental health episode and threatened to harm herself and her three-year-old twins.
Grier had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, per multiple reports. Her family told CNN that an ambulance would usually arrive to take her to the hospital whenever they called, but that only the police responded to the incident on the evening of July 15. Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney representing the Griers, said sheriff’s deputies arrived at Grier’s family home, arrested and handcuffed her, then placed her in a squad car without a seatbelt.
Body camera footage from one of the deputies shows Grier insisting she isn’t drunk and asking for a breathalyzer test before being placed in the patrol vehicle. (Warning: Some viewers may find this footage disturbing. )—Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) July 30, 2022She is then seen struggling with the officers as they carry her to their car.
Grier is also heard yelling that the officers would have to knock her out to get her into the car. When one of the deputies brandishes his taser, Grier shouts: “You can tase me, I don’t care, I don’t care. ” The deputy then holsters the taser and says he won’t tase her.
The two officers eventually lift Grier off the ground and place her in their police car. Less than a minute after driving off, the footage shows a deputy stopping and exiting his vehicle. Grier is then seen lying motionless and facedown next to the road.
Despite the deputy calling her name and tapping on her side repeatedly, Grier does not respond. Another officer, who appears to have been driving a separate vehicle, then arrives at the scene and declares that Grier is still breathing. The officer then tries unsuccessfully to get Grier to sit up as they call for an ambulance.
Investigators said Grier sustained severe injuries in the incident and died six days later in the hospital. Crump said she had suffered from a brain injury as a result of the fall. As to how Grier fell out of the car, investigators said on Wednesday that the rear passenger side door near where Grier was seated had not been closed.
Notably, the footage didn’t show either of the officers interacting with the door that remained open. However, one of them can be heard asking the other if it was closed, to which the other officer says, “Yes. “The footage also doesn’t show Grier falling out of the police vehicle.
Grier’s parents, Marvin and Mary, have demanded answers over their daughter’s death. “We need answers. We need closure.
We need to know the truth,” said Marvin Grier, per CBS News. Crump has criticized the officers’ actions as “reckless conduct. ” “Deliberate indifference at the hands of somebody who was having a mental health crisis,” he said, according to the outlet.
The attorney has called for the release of bodycam footage from the other deputy at the scene, urging authorities to provide “full transparency. “Read the original article on Insider.
From: insider
URL: https://www.insider.com/womans-fatal-fall-police-car-georgia-bodycam-footage-2022-8
