A San Jose police officer is on leave after cell phone video surfaced of him making an arrest. The video posted to social media Wednesday appears to show the officer kicking, then dragging a woman.
“As soon as I heard them shouting, I saw that they had pulled up behind her,” said Josh Gil from San Jose. “He demanded them to put their hands up, which she did.”
Gil shot the video as he was picking up food at the McDonald’s near east Santa Clara and Hwy. 101 in San Jose.
“You can say it was an investigation but the video says it all,” said Jonathan Gastelum. “The lady was already on her knees and there’s not really much she could have done.”
Gil’s friend Gastelum had just pulled up and saw it too. He said there were two kids in the back of the car as well.
“I saw no one else recording, so I took the initiative because I wanted justice for them that wasn’t right at all,” Gil said.
The police officer is on paid leave and officers tell NBC Bay Area that there was a warrant to seize the car because officers had tried to stop it twice in the past week but then it sped off.
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In the video you can also hear the passenger screaming they just bought the car.
“This video is deeply disturbing, and the officer’s conduct appalling,” Mayor San Liccardo tweeted. “This demands severe consequences.”
And later in a reply, he said, “This was not a case of an officer being confronted with violent conduct — at most resisting.”
The witnesses are happy the police department is doing an internal investigation.
“I just want justice for this woman and her family,” said Gil. “That’s the main concern, that’s the main reason I videotaped it.”
Meanwhile, the 39-year-old San Jose woman, Esperanza Marin, was booked into jail and faces charges of driving on a suspended license, possession of paraphernalia, and resisting arrest.
