An Austin, Texas man was sitting in a downtown Starbucks when he noticed police handing out citations for jaywalking. The police shouted at a young woman who was jogging with her headphones and apparently didn't hear them. They grabbed her and immediately handcuffed her. When she couldn't produce identification, she was arrested. Who jogs with state-issued identification? Live Leak user "Oneirishman" picked up
his camera and began filming. His eyewitness account, posted at Live Leak:
Sitting at Starbucks, on the corner of 24th and San Antonio, I noticed a particularly odd situation.Two Austin Police Officers standing outside the Castilian just lingering. Every time I looked back there was a different student holding a carbon copy of what looked to be a jay walking citation. Suddenly one of the cops shouts at an innocent girl jogging with her headphones on through West Campus. He wobbled after her and grabbed her by the arm. Startled and not knowing it was a cop, she jerked her arm away. The cop viewed this as resisting arrest and proceeded to grab both arms tightly, placing her in handcuffs. She repeatedly pleaded with them saying that she was just exercising and to let her go. She repeatedly cried out, "I did not do anything wrong…just give me the ticket." The other officer strolled over and not they where making a scene. She tried to get up. I doubt she was running away, as she was in handcuffs, but the second cop pushed her back down to the ground. Because of the commotion, they walked her to the cop car in the alleyway next to the Big Bite, where she, overcome with frustration, yelled loudly to gain attention. Because of that, the cops tightened their grip causing her to squirm and kick. Then came two bike cops from down the alley. Now we have four cops and one small, helpless girl in the back of a cop car, because she was just going for a run.
Video of the arrest:
From the Daily Texan Online:
City police officers arrested a woman around 10:45 a.m. Thursday for failing to provide identification after she was stopped near the intersection of 24th and San Antonio, outside Big Bite Pizza & Grill.
Advertising senior Chris Quintero, who witnessed the arrest, said Austin Police Department officers were working at the intersection when the woman jogged across
the block.
“I was sitting at the Starbucks at 24th and San Antonio,” Quintero said. “Then I hear a cop shout at an innocent girl jogging through West Campus with her headphones on.”
When the woman did not stop, the officer grabbed her by the arm and quickly placed her in handcuffs, Quintero said.
“She repeatedly pleaded with them, saying that she was just exercising and to let her go,” Quintero said.
For more discussion, see the diary from Daily Kos user
old mark.
