Body cam video shows officer punching woman at NJ beach

Police in New Jersey have released three segments of body camera footage showing an officer wrestling a woman to the sand at a beach and punching her head during an arrest, according The Star Ledger.

Video showing 20-year-old Emily Weinman being punched in the head by a Wildwood police officer on Saturday went viral over the Memorial Day weekend. 

{mosads}Weinman, who was at the beach with her 18-month-old child and her boyfriend, was accused of having alcoholic iced tea in her possession.

She is seen walking away from the officer when he asked for her last name.

“Alright, that’s it. I’m done with you,” the officer says in the video.

“Don’t f—ing touch me,” Weinman says.

“You’re about to get dropped,” the officer warns.

The video shows the officer pulling Weinman’s hair and forcing her to the sand as he calls for back-up.

Weinman yells that she can’t breathe and that she’s being choked while she continues to struggle. 

“That’s it,” the officer says and begins to punch her multiple times in the head. 

Beachgoers try to intervene as Weinman screams, “You’re not allowed to hit me and choke me like that.” 

Weinman also appears to spit at an officer as she is being led away toward a police car.

Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. said on Tuesday that the officer “did what he had to do,” according to the newspaper. 

“She assaults them, she spits at them, she kicks them. At that point, the police officer did what he had to do,” Troiano said.

When asked by a reporter if Weinman deserved to be punched, Troiano said she was “out of control.”

“Did she deserve to get hit? Maybe not, but then again maybe she did deserve it. I don’t know. The internal investigation will determine that,” the mayor said.

The next day, however, he told the newspaper the incident was unfortunate.

“It’s just a shame that all she had to do was comply,” Troiano said. “She probably would have just gotten a citation. Once the officer says ‘You’re under arrest,’ he has to continue with that arrest.”

Wildwood Police Chief Robert Regalbuto said the camera footage switches on and off because Weinman “forcibly struck” the officer in the torso, affecting the camera.

“From what I see on the video and only on the video, from not even talking to the officers, I think they did a decent job,” Regalbuto said. “I think we could have done a better job at trying to explain to her, but it didn’t appear Ms. Weinman wanted to hear what we had to say. She tried to tell us it was okay for her to possess alcohol and that doesn’t make any sense.”

None of the officers involved have prior histories of using excessive force, but the county prosecutor’s office is investigating the incident, Regalbuto said.

Weinman’s attorney, Stephen Dicht, said the officers had no justification for using that much force.

“It’s kind of ridiculous. They’re there to protect, to diffuse situations, not escalate them,” he said. “Whatever she did or said — and I’m not admitting she did or said anything — the response is way out of proportion. That’s what happens when you’ve got poorly trained officers.”

Dicht also slammed the mayor’s comments as “irresponsible,” according to the newspaper.

“What he’s trying to do is destroy her character, and it’s unfair. The mayor of a city destroying the character of a 20-year-old,” Dicht said. “I find it very offensive.”

Weinman now faces several charges, including two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer.