A Glynn County, Ga., police
officer was accused of using excessive force to control a 70-year-old woman
after he threw her to the ground face-first. A witness shot video of the
incident earlier this month.
BY MICHAEL WALSH
A police officer appeared to
body slam an elderly woman face-first onto pavement after pulling her over for
drunk driving.
Kathleen Mary Allegrone, 70,
did in fact scream and try to resist the officer as he escorted her from her
car to his police cruiser. But what happened next — and is preserved on video —
shocked everyone.
The Glynn County, Ga., police
officer lifted the woman into the air and threw her onto the street. The
woman's face made a loud whack as it smashed against the concrete, according to
the witness who recorded the incident with his cell phone.
"The lady was being
handcuffed and did not have her arms to break her fall," the witness said.
Allegrone’s mug shot, released
by the Glynn County Sheriff's Office Dec. 13, shows the woman's nose badly
bruised with large swaths of blood hardened beneath her nostrils.
"I was stunned really. I
think everyone was," said the cameraman’s friend Brett, who wished to have
his last name withheld, according to First Coast News. He witnessed the
incident as well.
The officer in question, Kevin
Jones, was taken off patrol while police investigated the incident. But he was
returned to full duties Saturday, according to The Florida Times-Union.
After the police officer threw
the woman on the ground, another cop walked over to the young man with his cell
phone and asked him to stop shooting the scene.
"It's not against the law,
though," the witness said.
"I know it's not against
the law. I'm just asking you not to do it," the officer replied. "I
cannot stop you but all I can say is that if it was your friend over there or
if it was yourself would you want this happening?"
The young man tried to reply
but was cut off.
"Yes or no, sir! Yes or
no, sir!"
Allegrone faces charges for
driving under the influence and willful obstruction of law enforcement
officers.
She was released on bail.