Let go of me. >> This is the same one from the >> Let go of me. >> Earlier. >> Oh >> yeah. I trespass in the jail. >> LET GO OF ME. >> STOP. >> LET GO OF ME. >> You're going to get a charge. >> I don't give a >> Okay, you can go to jail for stomping on my >> I don't give a Let go of me. >> LET GO OF ME. >> THIS WAY. >> Let go. >> Do not look at her. >> Let go of me. You're going to walk. >> You're going to walk like an adult and you're going to sit in the back of the car. >> Stop it. >> Let go of me. >> Do you have anything illegal in your purse? >> Let go of me. You're hurting me. >> You're hurting me. Please stop. >> Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow. [screaming] >> We're 10:13. We got one in custody. >> On January 31st, 2024, officers encountered a woman in the middle of an apparent mental health crisis on a residential street, unable to state her address and attempting to enter a vehicle that was not hers. The first legal question is whether officers had authority to physically detain her at all. A welfare check does not automatically confer the right to seize a person. Under the Fourth Amendment, a seizure requires either reasonable, articulable suspicion of a crime or a lawful mental health hold under state statute. The Supreme Court established the framework for evaluating that suspicion in Terry versus Ohio 392 US 1, 1968. Officers must be able to point to specific articulable facts, not a hunch, that criminal activity is a foot. Disorientation and confusion standing alone do not satisfy that standard. >> Please come home. Stop it. >> Come on. >> I WANT TO GO HOME. >> Stop playing with that handle. >> I want to go home. >> Sit down. >> Sit down. >> Where's home? >> Right here. >> What's your address? You really think this is 36 35? >> No. Where are you right now? >> I'm here. >> Who's here? >> It's 25 time. I want to go home. >> This is not home. >> Okay. >> Please take me home. Do you know what street you're on right now? >> Yes. Please take me home. >> Tell me what street you're >> Please take me home. I cannot take this. I can't take this. >> This is >> I want to go home. >> I want to go home. I want >> Stop WITH THE CAR. >> NO, I WANT TO GO HOME. Please come here. >> Walk that way. >> Come here. Come here with me. >> Walk with her. >> No. >> No. >> No. >> NO. NO. >> ALL RIGHT. >> STOP. >> IT'S YOUR >> STOP IT. >> STOP. >> NOPE. >> That's it. >> Stop it. >> Stop pulling away. >> Stop it. >> Stop it. >> Stop it. Please let go of me. Will you please let go of me? >> No. >> Let go of me. >> You don't know where you're at. Yes, I do. I know exactly where I'm at. >> Okay. Well, you're not accurate. >> Jacket. >> LET GO OF ME. >> BETTER ARM. >> Let go of me. >> Let go of me. >> This is the same one from the >> Let go of me. >> Earlier. >> Oh, >> yeah. I got trespassing. >> LET GO OF ME. >> STOP. >> LET GO OF ME. >> You're going to get a charge. I don't give a >> Okay, you can go to jail for stomping on my >> I don't give a Let go of me. LET GO OF ME. >> THIS WAY. >> Let go. >> Do not look at her. >> Do not look at her. >> Let go of me. >> You're going to walk like an adult and you're going to back. >> Stop it. >> Let go of me. >> Do you have anything illegal in your purse? >> Let go of me. You're hurting me. >> You're hurting me. Please stop. >> Ow. Ow ow ow ow ow ow. [screaming] >> OW. [screaming] >> We're 10:13. We got one in custody. >> Ow. Please let me go. Honey. Honey. I my throat. My throat. My throat. One more. >> Please let me go. Please let me go. >> One in the back. You have one in the back. >> LET ME GO. OH, I HAVE ONE. >> LET ME GO. [screaming] >> I'LL HOLD IT. >> OW. OW. >> STOP. STOP AROUND. STOP. [screaming] >> AMELIA, what's your last name? >> LET ME [screaming] GO. >> THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. >> LET ME GO. >> LET ME GO. LET ME GO. [screaming] LET ME GO. Let go. >> You want to sit You want to lay down on THE FLOOR? >> NO. HELP ME. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. [screaming] >> What? All right. Okay. What you're going to do is you're going to stand up. >> No. >> Yeah. >> Can you please get off me? >> Good job. >> Get off of me. >> Nope. >> Relax. We'll get off in a minute. >> Get off ME. >> DON'T GET AT ME. >> GET OFF ME. Get off of me. Help me. That's >> officer. Please help me. >> Help me. >> I can't. He won't. He won't stop. >> He won't stop. Please help me. >> Help me. >> Through there. >> We're good. Eric, stop. Please stop. >> Roll over towards side. PLEASE STOP. >> Bring your knees to your chest. >> I don't give a about knees around my chest. >> Yeah, we want to sit you up so you don't get hurt. THAT'S ALL. >> I'M TRYING. WILL YOU LET GO? >> BRING YOUR KNEES TO YOUR CHEST. >> LET GO. >> BRING YOUR KNEES to your chest. >> I can't. >> No, I can't. >> Knees to your chest. >> No, I can't. >> You can't move your knees, but you can kick out at me. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> I'm going to help stand you up. Okay, ma'am. Hold on. [screaming] [screaming] >> WHAT DID YOU SAY? >> WHAT DID YOU SAY? >> I'm hurting. >> I'm hurting. >> Please stop. >> Please stop. Please stop. >> Turn around. [screaming] >> OW. OW. NO. HONEY. HONEY. HONEY. STOP. STOP. >> You're hurting yourself. >> You're hurting yourself. are hurting me. >> Come here. >> Yeah. >> Hold her legs so I can get that hobble lock. >> I can't. >> Ow. I can't. Please let go. >> It's Please let go. >> He just tried to tie it. >> You're making me lost. >> Did you take anything? No, I want to. I WANT TO go home. >> You're not going to go home. >> I want to go home. >> Go to the jail or the hospital. >> I want to go home. I want to go home. >> Don't drop me. >> I want to go home. >> I WANT TO GO HOME. >> STAND UP SO YOU DON'T GET >> I WANT TO GO HOME. >> STAND UP SO YOU DON'T GET >> LET GO OF ME. >> GET AWAY FROM MY GLASS. >> LET GO OF ME. >> OW. OW. OW. OW. NO. Please let go of me. >> Stand up. >> No. >> I'll do the hard. >> No. >> No. >> If you want to car [screaming] >> OW. LET GO OF ME. [crying] PLEASE. >> NO, there's no point. >> Yeah, you're just going to get bit. >> She's on something. >> Once physical contact began and she resisted, the force analysis shifts to Graham versus Connor. 490US 386 1989. The court identified three factors. The severity of the crime at issue, whether the subject poses an immediate threat, and whether she is actively resisting or evading arrest. on factor one, the crime severity. This is where the case gets complicated. No felony was in progress at the point of initial contact. The charges of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence arose during the detention itself, not before it. That sequence matters enormously in a civil rights analysis. On factors two and three, the immediate threat and active resistance both are clearly met once she began kicking, stomping, and pulling away. Officers are not required to absorb physical assault to avoid a use of force finding. Sustained physical resistance legally justifies sustained physical control. There is a third legal layer that is rarely discussed in body cam analysis. Title two of the Americans with Disabilities Act 42 USC section 12132. Courts have held that officers may be required to reasonably accommodate a disability, including a mental health condition, when making an arrest, provided doing so does not pose undue risk to officer safety. The Supreme Court addressed this directly in city and county of San Francisco versus Shihan 575US 257 2015. The court did not fully resolve the ADA obligation, but subsequent circuit decisions have reinforced that when an individual's behavior signals acute mental health distress, crisis intervention training protocols are expected to be applied, not bypassed. Nothing in the footage indicates a sit trained officer was requested or deployed. Nothing in the dialogue reflects a deliberate pivot to crisis deescalation language. That gap between what training recommends and what the footage shows is exactly the kind of systemic failure that generates section 1983 civil rights litigation under 42 USC. Section 1983. The outcome. She was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence. Then accepted into a two-year pre-trial intervention program requiring a dual diagnosis program, weekly AA meetings, and mental health treatment with dismissal of charges upon successful completion. That resolution is legally appropriate and humanistically sound. >> What was going on? Where was she? She was she kept trying to get into that car there and the neighbor the lady who called said that's not her car and so we tried to talk with her find out where she was at. She had no idea where she was. >> Find out whose car that is. See if you got a victim. >> I mean uh she just kept ripping on the handles. Well, no. So we got to the back of the car here and she ended up just stomping Katie's foot. >> Basically you she had to jump a fence to get in here. Was banging on your door like crazy. hanging on the door sounded like she was half asleep >> and and uh she's standing here. I said, "What?" You know, she says, "I'm Amelia. I'm Amelia." I said, "What do you want?" She just kept saying she's Amelia. And I said, "I'm calling the police." Then she walked away and we were watching. We thought she went down the street, but then all of a sudden she got up. She must have been laying on this side of the gate and we saw her climb over it. >> She's screaming in the back of that cop car right now. >> Oh, I know. Hear it. God, you guys are something. I said, "Oh, why don't they just take You got to be careful." Huh? You can't just take her. >> No, we got to make sure we have a criminal reason to and stuff. She has rights, but >> Yeah. >> Where she messed up when she was trying to get into some car. >> Yeah, I saw that. >> I think that's a neighbor's car. >> When she first uh when your first lady cop came, the woman kept screaming, "I just want to go home." And she kept pulling the handles on that car. So I I don't know that she's >> somehow she she confused this with where she lives. >> I don't know. >> I don't I don't even think that she just out of it. >> That's it. >> For me personally, I would think fatal cuz she's drooling out the mouth. >> Oh, see you're familiar with all this stuff. >> I mean, step out. >> No, >> but um I need >> There you go. That's out. He needs you. I need you. You want to start first? >> No, she has to be able. She can't come off the ground. >> Let go. >> Stop. DO NOT KICK. >> LET GO. LET GO OF ME. >> PLEASE. >> She kicked. So, >> she's about to bite. >> Let her bite me. >> I don't give a about Get off my bench me. >> Get off me. Get off of me. >> Get off of me. >> Just calm down. >> Get off of me, please. >> EVERYTHING WILL WORK OUT. >> OW, it hurts. >> Well, that's because YOU'RE MOVING. LET GO. [screaming] >> THAT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE MOVING. >> NO, I CAN'T. LET GO OF YOU. Let go of me. >> Let go of me. >> Ow. >> Ow. >> Okay. >> All right. Go ahead and stand up. >> No, I can't. I can't I can't do this from me. I got to go home. I have to go home. I have to go home. Help. Help me. >> I don't know what he's going to want to do with that. >> Help me. >> Let me guess. >> Help me. >> No. >> Help me. >> Let's see if I can get medical to do bottles on her. >> Help me. >> Help me. >> All right. I'm going to sit you in the chair. Come on. >> Please help me. >> It's okay. Okay, just go ahead and have a seat. >> Please help me. Please let go of me. >> Please let go of me. >> I'm going to throw up. >> Okay, just calm down. I'LL BRING THE TRASH CAN, TOO. >> THROW UP. >> NO. LET GO OF ME. >> WE HAVE ONE. >> Let go of me. >> Let go of me. >> No, Amelia. >> Let go of me. >> Ow. >> Ow. >> Relax. Relax. >> I HURT. PLEASE STOP ME. >> THE MORE YOU DO, the more they're going to do. >> Now for the grades. The primary officer receives a B minus. She maintained a measured verbal tone during significant stretches of a 12minute high pressure encounter. She avoided less lethal tools despite sustained resistance. And she called for medical evaluation at the right moment. Those are real positives. However, the question of whether a mental health hold was considered as an alternative to criminal arrest is not answered by this footage. The framing, quote, "You are going to go to jail or the hospital." End quote. While accurate, is a binary that can accelerate resistance in someone experiencing acute psychological distress. That is a training gap, not a character flaw, but it still costs her the A. The backup officer receives a C+. His physical support was within scope, but characterizing the subject as quote on something end quote without medical confirmation and framing the encounter as a nuisance rather than a crisis reflects an attitudinal failure that affects how officers make decisions under pressure. Speculation is not a diagnosis. The subject receives a B. This grade accounts for the context of her apparent crisis. Her resistance, kicking, and stomping constituted real criminal conduct that is not erased by mental health status. At the same time, she never escalated to weapons, never fled into traffic, and ultimately accepted a path toward accountability and treatment that matters. The department receives a C+ based solely on what is observable here. No CIT language, no mental health hold discussion, no supervisory presence during a 12-minute restraint encounter. Those are systemic indicators, not individual officer failures. Policy creates behavior, and the behavior here suggests the policy needs work. Every encounter like this one carries lessons that are worth sitting with. This case in particular distills several principles that apply well beyond this specific street on this specific night. Here is what the footage teaches. Lesson one, a welfare check is not a blank check. The authority to approach someone in distress does not automatically become the authority to physically detain them. Officers need a lawful basis. A specific articulable suspicion of crime or a valid mental health hold before physical seizure is legally justified. Lesson two, the charges that arise during a detention do not retroactively justify the detention itself. Battery on an officer and resisting arrest are real offenses. But if the initial stop lacked legal footing, those charges carry constitutional exposure in a civil action under 42 USC section 1983. Lesson three. Duration matters in use of force analysis. A 10-minute physical restraint of a person in mental health crisis is not the same as a 30-se secondond takedown of a combative suspect. Prolonged restraint carries its own physiological risks, including positional asphixia and its own legal scrutiny under the Graham reasonleness standard. Lesson four. For citizens, compliance is always the smarter short-term choice, even when the detention feels unlawful. Physical resistance creates criminal charges that follow you. The legal system, not the street, is where unlawful detentions are properly challenged. A section 1983 civil rights claim is a far better remedy than a battery conviction. Lesson five, the pre-trial intervention outcome is a signal worth reading. When prosecutors and courts root a case toward dual diagnosis, treatment, and mental health support instead of incarceration, they are acknowledging something the arrest process did not, that this was a health crisis first and a criminal matter second. The justice system sometimes corrects what the initial response missed. This case does not have a clear villain. It has a system that reached its limits on a residential street at an hour when a woman needed a crisis counselor and got handcuffs instead. That is not an indictment of any individual officer. It is a description of a structural gap that departments across the country are still working to close. If this analysis gave you something to think about, subscribe to our channel and drop your take in the comments below. These conversations matter and so does your perspective.