Video Shows NJ Cop Punch Woman in Head

Police in Wildwood investigating underage drinking arrest of 20-year-old beachgoer
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted May 28, 2018 9:02 AM CDT

The police department in Wildwood, NJ, is investigating after a viral video showed one of its officers punching a 20-year-old woman in the head at a beach on Saturday afternoon. As NJ.com reports, the officers involved in the arrest of Emily Weinman have been "reassigned to administrative duty pending the outcome of a full and thorough investigation," per a department statement. Weinman said, in a since-deleted Facebook post, that she had booze on the beach when cops approached her about underage drinking. She claims the container was closed and she wasn't drinking at the time, and was walking away when they followed, leading her to ask if they didn't have "something better to do."

She says she refused to give police her name, and backed away. "I tripped and fell and the cop tackled me to the ground and smashed my head into the sand," she wrote, per NBC. Cell phone cameras rolled in video that's since gone viral, as bystanders tell her to "stop resisting." Weinman was charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, aggravated assault by spitting on an officer, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and being a minor in possession of alcohol. The Wildwood police chief calls the video "alarming," but "does not want to rush to any judgement until having the final results of the investigation." The officer involved was apparently wearing a body cam. (More New Jersey stories.)

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