Saturday, 25 January 2014
Video Of Policeman Punching Woman In The Face.
Cop punches woman in the face twice, department says it's 'defensible'
A Superior, Wisconsin police officer slammed an uncooperative woman against the hood of a squad car, slapped her an hit her twice in the face with his closed fist — and an attorney for his department said the brutal attack was "defensible."
What happened between Officer George Gothner and Natasha Lancour on the night of Jan. 5 in a bar parking lot was captured by a dashboard camera. Police were cctvapparently called to the scene because of a fight between two men, who were taken away by other officers. Then, Gothner can be seen attempting to arrest Lancour. He throws her against the hood of the squad car, slaps her and bashes her face against it. When Lancour recoils, Gothner administers two closed-fist punches to her face. Lancour is a five-foot-tall black woman. She claimed her race was a factor in how police decided to treat her, according to Northland's News Center. "You did that shit because I was black," she said in the video. Gothner claimed that he punched Lancour because she scratched him in the face. "Suddenly Lancour reached up with her left hand and struck and scratched me across the right side of my face," he said in a report. "My reaction was that I gave her a closed fist punch to the left side of her face." It's not clear in the video whether Lencour actually scratched the officer. Still, an attorney for the Superior police department said that Gothner's defense was sensible. Alleged Battery of Superior Police Officer
A Superior woman faces a felony charge of battery to a peace officer, but she said the officer used excessive force in her arrest. Video from a police dashboard camera captured some of the incident, but both sides are looking for video recorded by witnesses.
On Jan. 5, Natasha Lancour, 28, was arrested outside Keyport Lounge for allegedly striking a police officer. She doesn't agree with the felony charge filed against her.
"I knew it was wrong. I knew I didn't do it," Lancour said.
She said it was hard to watch her arrest by Superior Police Officer George Gothner. Video from Gothner's dashboard camera shows him responding to the report of a fight in the bar's parking lot. Lancour's brother and brother-in-law were in handcuffs when Gothner arrived.
Lancour said she was upset by what was happening and yelling. She said Gothner grabbed her and began swearing while ordering her to back up and remain silent. Lancour said she swore back at the officer, and Gothner's report states he went to arrest her.
"That's when he turned back around, and he snatched me up and dragged me to the car," Lancour said.
The video of the altercation shows Gothner forcing Lancour onto the hood of his vehicle. Gothner can be heard saying, "Stop resisting." Lancour's head then hits the hood and she slips out of Gothner's grasp. The video also shows Gothner swinging at least twice at Lancour's head.
In his report Gothner writes, "Suddenly Lancour reached up with her left hand and struck and scratched me across the right side of my face."
Gothner's report states that caused him pain and his reaction was a closed fist punch to Lancour's face. He wrote that it was meant to stop her actions.
Lancour said photos from the next day show bruising under her eye and swelling to her jaw.
"I looked at my face and I looked like cyclops. I didn't look like myself," Lancour said. Superior woman alleges police assault outside bar (with video)
A Superior woman is claiming police assaulted her after a fight outside a downtown bar earlier this month.A Superior woman is claiming police assaulted her after a fight outside a downtown bar earlier this month. Superior police were called to the Keyport Lounge twice Jan. 5 after the Green Bay Packers lost to the San Francisco 49ers in an NFL playoff game. The second of the two incidents took place in the parking lot, where police reports say two men were handcuffed and put into squad cars. After the arrests, Natasha Lancour got into a verbal altercation with an officer who responded to the fight. Police cameras caught a portion of the incident on tape, which was provided to the Northland's NewsCenter. The video shows that Superior police officer George Gothner gets close to Lancour and drags her to the hood of his squad car, where he slams her down. He then punches her in the face with a closed fist. In Gothner's report, he writes: "Suddenly Lancour reached up with her left hand and struck and scratched me across the right side of my face ... My reaction was that I gave her a closed-fist punch to the left side of her face ..." Lancour's lawyer, Richard Gondik, said he believes the video shows a dramatic, excessive use of force. "She is 5-foot-nothing. She has never been arrested before; she has young children," Gondik said. He also said Lancour had not been drinking that evening.
Chaotic arrest caught on camera; Superior woman claims brutality
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