Hide Transcript Show Transcript REPORTER: WHAT STARTED OFF AS A ROUTINE TRAFFIC STOP FOR A SUSPENDED VEHICLE REGISTRATION QUICKLY ESCALATED INTO THIS. A RIO VISTA POLICE OFFICER BODY SLAMMING CHERISH THOMAS TO THE GROUND. >> OH, NO. OH, NO. >> WHAT CAN I DO AT THIS POINT? HE’S A POLICE OFFICER. AND I’M A BUCK 20, SO WHAT AM I GOING TO DO? FIGHT HIM? NO. REPORTER: THOMAS AND HER MOTHER DROVE TO THE SCENE AFTER HER SIBLINGS CALLED THEM TO SAY THEY WERE PULLED OVER BY POLICE. >> I HAVE FOUR KIDS IN THAT CAR, I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THEY WERE OK. REPORTER: THEY SAY THEY WANTED TO RECORD EVERYTHING ON THEIR CELL PHONES FOR TRANSPARENCY. >> I WAS SCARED, I’M NOT GOING TO LIE. BECAUSE AT THE END OF THE DAY, THAT’S A POLICE OFFICER, AND THEY CAN DO WHAT THEY WANT TO DO. REPORTER: POLICE SAY THEY DETAINED THE FAMILY BECAUSE THEY WOULD NOT ALLOW OFFICERS TO IMPOUND THE CAR. THE FAMILY SAYS THEY HAD THE PROPER DOCUMENTATION. AND THOMAS STEPBROTHER RECORDED THIS VIDEO AFTER BEING DETAINED. >> JUST BEING PULLED OVER, I FEAR FOR MY LIFE EVERY TIME AS AN AFRICAN AMERICAN IN RIO VISTA. REPORTER: THE POLICE CHIEF SAYS THE FAMILY’S CELL PHONE VIDEOS ONLY SHOW PART OF THE INCIDENT. AND HE PLANS TO RELEASE THE OFFICERS BODY CAMERA VIDEOS BY THE END OF THE WEEK. THE VIDEOS ONLY SHOW PART OF THE ARREST. THE CAMERA MOVING BACK AND FORTH. THE POLICE CHIEF SAYS THOMAS PUSHED THE OFFICER AND RESISTED ARREST. AS HER MOTHER RECORDING THE VIDEO TRIED TO HIT HIM, WHICH IS WHEN HE TACKLED THOMAS TO THE GROUND. >> I END UP GETTING DIPPED LIKE A FOOTBALL PLAYER. LOOK AT MY BABY AND HOW BIG THE OFFICER WAS TOWARDS HER. WHAT HE DID WAS UNCALLED FOR. REPORTER: AS MOM AND DAUGHTER WERE BEING ARRESTED, THE POLICE CHIEF SAYS TWO OTHER RELATIVES WERE ALREADY DETAINED. HE SAYS THEY WERE TRYING TO BREAK OUT OF THE PATROL CAR BY KICKING THE DOOR AND WINDOW. HE SAYS THERE WERE SO MANY CONFRONTATIONAL FAMILY MEMBERS. THAT THEY HAD TO CALL IN BACK-UP FROM SOLANO COUNTY AND SACRAMENTO COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE. THOMAS JUST GOT HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL. >> MY HEAD HIT THE GROUND FIRST. I KNOW MY LEGS HIT THE GROUND HARD BECAUSE THEY’RE ALL SCRAP UP. REPORTER: HER FAMILY SAYS THEY WANT JUSTICE. >> I WANT TO SEE THE SAME AGGRESSIVE ACTION THAT HE TOOK WITH MY CHILD DONE TO HI I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM FIRED. REPORTER: WHAT YOU DON’T SEE IN THOSE VIDEOS, THE MOTHER, DESHAUNNA PAYNE, SAYS THE OTHER OFFICER TOOK HER DOWN AS WELL. POLICE SAY BOTH MOM AND DAUGHTER HAVE BEEN CHARGED WITH RESISTING ARREST AND OBSTRUCTING AN INVESTIGATION. BRIAN: MARLEI, WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THESE OFFICERS, AND THEIR STATUS TONIGHT? REPORTER: THE POLICE CHIEF TELLS ME THEY ARE NOT ON LEAVE. HE SAYS THEY BOTH HAVE BEEN IN LAW ENFORCEMENT UNDER FIVE YEARS. ONE OF THE OFFICERS, SIX MON Advertisement Investigation underway after Rio Vista officer body slams woman Share Shares Copy Link Copy The Rio Vista Police Department launched an internal investigation after cellphone videos surfaced showing an officer body slamming 31-year-old Cherish Thomas to the ground.Police Chief Dan Dailey said the investigation is looking into if the officer used excessive force during a traffic stop. The incident began as a routine traffic stop along Harris Drive on Sunday evening. Officers stopped a car for suspended registration, Dailey said. They detained all four people inside the car because officers said they refused to the exit the vehicle, preventing the officers from impounding the car. Thomas' family said they had the proper documentation and the officers refused to review it. One of the passengers, Tyrone Clayton Jr., called his relatives to come to the scene in order to record the incident on their cellphones for transparency. “Just being pulled over, I fear for my life every time as an African American in Rio Vista,” Clayton said. Clayton’s stepsister, Cherish Thomas, and his stepmother, Deshaunna Payne, arrived on the scene and started recording the incident on their phones. “I have four kids in that car," Payne said. "I wanted to make sure they were OK."Dailey said Thomas and Payne obstructed the investigation. Officers said Thomas pushed one of them as Payne tried to hit the other officer. Dailey said that is when the officer tackled Thomas to the ground.“(The) officer tackled her to the ground in order to gain control of her while his partner stepped in to take Deshaunna Payne into custody,” Dailey said in a news release.| RELATED | Rio Vista PD release body cam video of officer body slamming womanThomas said she did not push the officer. “What can I do at this point? He’s a police officer. And I’m (120 pounds)," she said. "So what am I going to do? Fight him? No. "Payne said she was not being aggressive towards the officers. “I wasn’t trying to attack them. He slammed my baby," she said. "I went in mother mode to protect my child. "Thomas returned home after going to the hospital on Monday. She said the officer slammed her head into the ground. She said she has suffered from headaches, sore legs and arms since the arrest. “I was scared. I’m not going to lie. Because at the end of the day, that’s a police officer, and they can do what they want to do,” she said.Her family wants justice. “I want to see the same aggressive action that he took with my child done to him. Yes, I would like to see him fired,” Payne said. According to police, Thomas and Payne have been charged with resisting arrest and obstructing an investigation. Dailey said the family’s videos only show a portion of the incident and he plans to release the officers’ body camera videos by the end of the week to “show the totality of this situation.”Dailey said a third car arrived on the scene with more family members who were “confrontational and uncooperative.” He said officers had to request assistance from the Solano and Sacramento County sheriff offices to deal with the crowd. He added that two other relatives who were detained during the traffic stop tried to escape the patrol car by kicking the door and window. They were charged with felony vandalism.<doc-sep>Screenshot : Sacramento Bee ( Rio Vista Police Department ) Police in Rio Vista, Calif., released body cam footage Tuesday of a traffic stop that ended with an officer body slamming a woman who wanted to know what was happening with family members detained during a traffic stop. Advertisement The Rio Vista Police Department moved quickly after cell phone footage of the body slam went viral, releasing eight body camera videos of the traffic stop just two days after it happened, reports the Sacramento Bee. The confrontation took place Sunday night, after Rio Vista officers pulled over a car with expired tags. All four of the car’s passengers were detained, SF Gate reports, after they refused to get out of the car, preventing officers from impounding it. As the situation escalated, one of the passengers called their family to come to the scene and record the officers. Responding to the call, Deshaunna Payne and her daughter, Cherish Thomas, pulled up in a second car. B ody cam footage from one officer show Payne and Thomas yelling at officers, demanding to know why some of the first car’s occupants had been arrested. They later go back into their cars briefly, emerging with their cell phones out to record the interaction. From the Sacramento Bee: As they start to approach the scene of the traffic stop again, the first officer warns them not to come closer. “Don’t come close to me,” the officer is heard saying in one of the videos. “You ain’t coming over by our cars right now.” Cherish Thomas responds, “I’m not by you,” as she walks alongside the officer toward the traffic stop. Video from each officer’s bodycam shows that the first officer grabs Cherish Thomas at this point, holding her from behind as she appears to attempt to turn back toward the traffic stop. The struggle goes in and out of frame on the second officer’s camera in the moments before the alleged slam, and the struggle itself obscures most of the activity from view on the involved officer’s camera. Payne can be held yelling, “You’re manhandling my daughter.” After a few seconds of grabbing Cherish Thomas, who is restrained with her hands behind her back but no handcuffs on, the first officer lifts the woman and appears to slam her to the ground with force. Advertisement Payne, having just seen her daughter slammed to the ground, rushes toward her, screaming at the cops to get off her daughter. A scuffle ensues between Payne and one of the officers; his body cam then goes out. Advertisement Payne, Cherish Thomas, Mea Thomas (the driver of the car that was pulled over) and Mychal Ivy were arrested and charged with a litany of charges, including resisting arrest , obstructing or delaying an investigation, felony vandalism, and public intoxication. On Monday, Cherish Thomas denied police statement saying she had pushed an officer. Advertisement “What can I do at this point? He’s a police officer. And I’m [120 pounds],” Thomas told KCRA TV. “So what am I going to do? Fight him? No.” Payne also denied being aggressive towards the Rio Vista officers. “I wasn’t trying to attack them. He slammed my baby,” Payne told the local news outlet. “I went in mother mode to protect my child.” Advertisement While Rio Vista Police Chief Dan Dailey said Monday the department had opened an internal investigation into an excessive force complaint, none of the officers involved in the traffic stop have been named, nor did he indicate that any had been placed on leave. Thomas, who went to the hospital Monday, told KCRA TV the arresting officer slammed her head into the ground during the arrest, and she has suffered headaches, sore legs, and arms since. Advertisement “I was scared, I’m not going to lie,” she said. “Because at the end of the day, that’s a police officer, and they can do what they want to do.”<doc-sep>
Hide Transcript Show Transcript NOW WITH MORE. GULSTAN: POLICE TELL US THIS ALL BEGAN WHEN OFFICERS PULLED OVER A DRIVER WHO ENDED UP HAVING A SUSPENDED REGISTRATION AND WHOSE CAR WAS GOING TO BE TOWED. THE TRAFFIC STOP QUICKLY ESCALATED WHEN SEVERAL ANGRY FAMILY MEMBERS SHOWED UP AT THE SCEN >> OK GET OUT ONE AT A TIME, I DON’T UNDERSTAND THIS. GULSTAN: THE VIDEO SHOWS OFFICERS EXPLAINING TO THE PASSENGERS IN THE CAR THAT THEY NEED TO TAKE A SEAT IN THE BACK OF THE PATROL CAR SO OFFICERS CAN TAKE AN INVENTORY OF WHAT’S IN THE CAR BEFORE IMPOUNDING IT. MOMENTS LATER, ANOTHER CAR SHOWS UP AT THE SCENE AND TWO FAMILY MEMBERS GET OUT, RECORDING WITH THEIR CELL PHONES. THAT’S WHEN ONE OF THE OFFICERS ASKS CHERISH THOMAS TO GET BACK IN HER CAR >> DON’T COME CLOSE TO ME, YOU NEED TO GO THIS WA BACK UP, BACK UP. >> GET THEM OFF MY DAUGHTER NOW. GULSTAN: HERE’S ANOTHER LOOK AT IT. YOU CAN SEE THE OFFICER TAKING THOMAS DOWN TO THE GROUND FROM THE OTHER OFFICER’S PERSPECTIVE. A SHORT TIME LATER A THIRD CAR SHOWS UP ON THE SCENE WITH TWO MORE FAMILY MEMBERS WHO POLICE SAY WERE BEING UNCOOPERATIVE. >> THIS CAR’S GETTING TOWED. YES IT IS. THIS CAR IS GETTING TOWED. >> DON’T TOUCH ME BECAUSE I DIDN’T TOUCH YOU. >> YOU IN THE STREET AND YOU NEED TO GO. GULSTAN: AUTHORITIES TELL US THEY CALLED FOR BACKUP FROM THE SOLANO AND SACRAMENTO COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICES BECAUSE OF THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE NOT FOLLOWING COMMANDS. WE SAT DOWN WITH THOMAS AND HER MOTHER LAST NIGHT WHO SAID THEY JUST WANTED TO RECORD EVERYTHING ON THEIR CELL PHONES FOR TRANSPARENCY. >> I WAS SCARED, I’M NOT GOING TO LIE. BECAUSE AT THE END OF THE DAY THAT’S A POLICE OFFICER, AND THEY CAN DO WHAT THEY WANT TO DO. GULSTAN: THOMAS SAYS SHE SUFFERED MINOR INJURIES DURING THE ARREST, AND HER FAMILY SAYS THEY’D LIKE TO SEE THE OFFICER FIRED. POLICE TELL US THOMAS AND THREE OTHER PEOPLE ENDED UP BEING ARRESTED. THOMAS WAS CHARGED WIT Advertisement Rio Vista PD releases body cam videos of officer body slamming woman Share Shares Copy Link Copy The Rio Vista Police Department released eight body camera videos Tuesday that captured a traffic stop during which a 31-year-old woman was body slammed by an officer.Police Chief Dan Dailey said Monday an internal investigation is underway to look into if the officer used excessive force.Collectively, the videos released by the police department contain more than an hour of footage. Below is one of the videos from the police department: Warning, it contains graphic languageThe videos were released two days after the traffic stop. The incident began Sunday evening along Harris Drive. Officers stopped a car for suspended registration, Dailey said. They detained all four people inside the car because officers said they refused to exit the vehicle, preventing the officers from impounding the car. One of the passengers, Tyrone Clayton Jr., called his relatives to come to the scene in order to record the incident on their cellphones for transparency.Clayton’s stepsister, Cherish Thomas, and his stepmother, Deshaunna Payne, arrived on the scene and started recording the incident on their phones. Cellphone videos of the incident were posted by the family on social media and shared with KCRA 3.Below are two of cellphone videos taken by the family:Dailey said Thomas and Payne obstructed the investigation. Officers said Thomas pushed one of them as Payne tried to hit the other officer. Dailey said that is when the officer tackled Thomas to the ground.“(The) officer tackled her to the ground in order to gain control of her while his partner stepped in to take Deshaunna Payne into custody,” Dailey said in a news release.Thomas said she did not push the officer.“What can I do at this point? He’s a police officer. And I’m (120 pounds)," she said Monday. "So what am I going to do? Fight him? No. "Payne said Monday she was not being aggressive towards the officers.“I wasn’t trying to attack them. He slammed my baby," she said. "I went in mother mode to protect my child. "| RELATED | Investigation underway after Rio Vista officer body slams womanThomas returned home after going to the hospital on Monday. She said the officer slammed her head into the ground. She said she has suffered from headaches, sore legs and arms since the arrest.“I was scared. I’m not going to lie.