Woman thrown to ground by deputy outside Lancaster store speaks out: 'He tried to kill me'
LANCASTER, Calif. (KABC) -- The female robbery suspect involved in a controversial encounter with a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy is speaking out.
Bodycam and cellphone video captured back in June shows a deputy slamming the woman to the ground outside the WinCo grocery store in Lancaster.
The U.S. Department of Justice has since launched an investigation into the incident and L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna has called it disturbing.
During a news conference outside the store Monday, the attorney representing the woman involved in the altercation called it unjustified.
"We're here, yet again, for another completely unjustified and criminal use of force primarily against a Black woman," said attorney Caree Harper. "We saw her get thrown down without cause and get threatened to be punched in the face. And we know the sheriff's department isn't joking about punching women to the face. Where on Earth is it acceptable to punch a woman on the face? We're in America."
Earlier this month, surveillance video from inside the store raised more questions about the confrontation and added a new layer to the investigation.
That video - released by the attorney for the deputy who used force on the woman - shows the female suspect exchanging words with store security, and at one point appearing to shove a security officer as she attempts to get past him. Moments later, she pulls down her face mask and appears to spit on the security guard, who wipes his face.
When asked about that particular footage, Harper said: "The video I looked at, unless you were presently there and you could see projectiles coming from her mouth, you can't say what she's doing."
"That is to distract from the felony battery that occurred in this parking lot. That is a distraction.... The sheriff's deputy who beat up my client cannot be saved by subsequently-learned things that occurred in the store," Harper added.
Jacy Huseton, the woman seen in the video, gave some emotional words during the news conference.
"The day of the incident, I thought that I was going to be killed... He tried to kill me and for what? Because I was taking a picture or taking a video?"
Huseton's attorney is expected to file a lawsuit over the incident but hasn't said when that might happen.
The deputy's attorney, Tom Yu, has argued that his client and his partner were responding to a possibly dangerous and violent situation, along with attempted robbery. The deputy who took the female suspect down outside of the store remains on desk duty pending the outcome of the investigation.
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris is urging the public to be cautious and wait for the investigation before making a judgment as to whether the deputy used excessive force or was motivated by racism.
"To paint this kid as a racist and vilify him the way people have been vilifying him and demanding he be prosecuted criminally - that's just not fair," Parris said. "It's not right and it's certainly not justice."
