Truly unbelievable
Charlena Michelle Cooks, the mother of a 2nd grade student, and a Crestline Elementary School (Barstow, California) employee got into an altercation in the school’s parking lot back in January, resulting in police officers arriving on the scene to interview both women. The situation took a horrific turn during Ms. Cooks’ interview, resulting in her brutal arrest, a video clip of which can be seen above. At your own risk of course, it’s rather disturbing.
For those unwilling to watch the clip, a summation of its events are as follows. The police arrive in Crestline Elementary’s parking lot and immediately begin speaking to the schools’ employee, who says Cooks was driving recklessly, and even went up and punched her window, causing no damage. However, the police officer told the woman that he “doesn’t see a crime that has been committed,” and only offered to file paperwork on the incident if damage was done to the woman’s car. There was no damage.
Shortly after, the police came across Ms. Cooks, right outside of the school, and began interviewing her. She explained being verbally accosted by the previous woman, and attributed their clash to Cooks not knowing that the lane she was driving down wasn’t a two-way street. Later in her explanation, she said she felt that the woman’s tone was racially charged.
Not too long after this, the police officer that conducted the interview asked Cooks for her name, and she refused to divulge anything other than “Michelle” before getting on the phone and asking someone if the officer had the right to demand her full name. Though the officer said he would give her 2 minutes before taking action, just a few seconds after Cooks got on the phone, the officer grabbed her, and proceeded to arrest her, prompting her to scream that she was pregnant, which didn’t stop the one officer, or the others that joined him, from wrestling Cooks down to the ground and arresting her as she lay on her stomach.
As the New York Daily News points out, the Barstow Police Department only had this to say about the incident.
The Barstow Police Department continues to be proactive in training its officers to assess and handle interactions with emotionally charged individuals while conducting an investigation, for the protection of everyone involved.
Right.