Glendale DUI News Alert: Echoes of Rodney King Beating in Videotaped Police Brutality against Woman Busted for DUI in Tallahassee

Getting arrested for DUI in Glendale (or anywhere else) can be an emotionally and physically taxing process.

Sometimes, drivers become aggressive, defensive, petulant and even downright dangerous. We’ve covered more than one story on this blog, involving drivers who’ve committed hit and runs and police officer assaults during and after DUI stops.

But sometimes the police make mistakes, too – sometimes huge and awful ones.

Consider the story of 44-year-old Christina West, who was arrested in Tallahassee on August 10 for DUI. Allegedly, West drove her car off the road into a house in the town of Killearn. Six police officers showed up to deal with her – a 5”6’, 130-pound woman.

And then things really got out of control.

Graphic video footage of the arrest shows officers slamming the woman’s head into a police car and then smashing it into the pavement. Her screams of pain can be heard in the video. Pictures taken later show her with a broken face bone, a hugely swollen eye, cuts all over her arms and legs, and a bloody nose – injuries she sustained due to the police beating, not due to the car crash.

Officers at the scene contended that she had been resisting arrest, but the video footage seems to clearly show that the officers used excessive force in taking her down. State attorney Willie Meggs expressed his shock and disgust. He told the Tallahassee Democratic Court “I’m extremely upset … it is a very disturbing situation to me, and I am dealing with it.”

Scott Maddox, the City Commissioner, responded via email to Meggs, regarding the video, and wrote: “The video taken from the police car shows the roadside sobriety test as well as the arrest of the subject … it also shows DISTURBING use of force against a completely nonaggressive arrestee. It is my belief that the City of Tallahassee will soon face a liability lawsuit based on the content of the video.”

In the probable cause statement, the arresting officers did not mention smashing the woman’s face on the hood of the car or on the pavement, but the video clearly shows these aggressive and brutal tactics.

Prosecutors have already dropped battery charges against West, although the charge of DUI is still open. It’s not clear how or whether West will respond legally to the beating. The whole affair is certainly sordid and scary.

Most police officers who stop people at Glendale DUI checkpoints or arrest people on freeways like the 101 and 134 for DUI are respectful, law-abiding, well-intentioned people.

But not always!

And even the best-intentioned police officers can make mistakes, such as mis-calibrating breath tests or mis-interpreting Glendale field sobriety tests.

Fortunately, a Glendale DUI defense attorney with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can provide insight into your case and help you strategize effectively to shield your rights and obtain a fair outcome.

If you have been arrested for a crime in Glendale, please contact Glendale criminal defense attorney Michael Kraut for 24/7 assistance by phone at (818) 507-9123 or toll free at (888) 334-6344 or online. We’re located at 121 W Lexington Dr, Glendale, CA 91203.