Pregnant woman claims she was slammed to ground by NYPD

SUNSET PARK, N.Y. -- The attorney for a pregnant woman who says NYPD officers slammed her to the ground in a caught-on-camera incident now under investigation spoke out Wednesday.

The woman, Sandra Amezquita, is 5 months pregnant, her attorney Sanford Rubenstein said.

Amezquita "was walking over to ask police to stop using excessive force" on her son when the alleged incident occurred, he said.

"It's appalling," he said of the 2:15 a.m. altercation. "It's clear to me when an incident like this occurs you understand why police community relations are at an all-time low."

At a news conference, Amezquita said she's praying nothing happens to the baby.

The alleged incident happened overnight Saturday on Fifth Avenue in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. A cellphone video starts with a young man in handcuffs surrounded by police. Then, his pregnant mother, Amezquita, tries to intervene.

She struggles with police as they try to restrain her. "She is pregnant! Oh my gosh!" the person recording the scene yells to cops as they allegedly toss her to the ground.

She landed on her stomach, with officers seemingly piling on top of her. A family friend tried to step in, but another officer shoved her away and sent her tumbling.

The family was wrapping up dinner with friends around 2 a.m. Saturday near Fifth Avenue and 41st Street when they say officers from the 72nd Precinct tried to plant a knife in her son's pocket.

"They were beating my son and I went to console him," Amezquita said through an interpreter.

In another video, the Colombian immigrant shows bruises she said she got on her belly from the incident. Her son, Jhohan Lemos, is also seen with a scar on his face that he says were caused by officers during the arrest.

The NYPD said, "The incident is under review by our Internal Affairs Bureau."

According to the criminal complaint, Lemos had a gravity knife clipped on his pants and he shoved an officer as he resisted arrest.

"What this shows is an outrage to all New Yorkers," said Rubinstein.

Amezquita's son and husband are still in jail on charges stemming from the incident.

"What we saw in that gruesome video is a woman who's trying to protect her son, who is being stopped and frisked by police, and she herself became a victim, slammed onto the floor," said Dennis Flores, of El Grito de Sunset Park. "Her belly is now with black-and-blue bruises."

The local police watch group that released the video said the 17-year-old suspect was arrested last year for robbery. This video comes less than a week after an officer from the same precinct was suspended for kicking a street vendor.

"It's sad that my reaction is I'm not shocked," community organizer Jason DeLaguila said. "It isn't new in this neighborhood. But it's still enraging, it's saddening."

City Councilman Carlos Menchaca says he is disappointed with the 72nd Precinct.

"This is the second video in a week," he said. "This is disturbing. Yet again, we are seeing this kind of aggressive tension from the police and the community. This needs to stop."

Community organizers say they have met with the family and that the pregnant woman is having medical complications.

The New York City Police Department tells WABC-TV that the Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating both cases.