DENVER — Video taken by a witness during an arrest shows a Denver police officer punching a suspect in the face six times and then tripping the man’s girlfriend who is seven-and-a-half months pregnant, causing her to land on her belly and face.
The witness who took the video claims an officer then took the tablet he was using to record the arrest, deleted the video file, not realizing it had already been stored on the electronic cloud.
The limited-use video obtained by FOX 31 in Denver shows the suspect’s head bouncing off the pavement from the force of the punches.
According to police reports, the uniformed police officer, Charles “Chris” Jones IV made the arrest after undercover narcotics police officers say they saw the suspect, David Flores, a suspected drug user, stuff a white sock in his mouth that they suspected was full of heroin.
Police say Flores refused to respond to requests to show his hands.
While Jones and his partner Christopher Evans were holding and punching Flores, a woman can be heard screaming. A few seconds later, Mayra Lazos-Guerrero, 25, falls hard on her face when Jones sweeps her feet out from under her. Jones said he did it because he thought she was going to kick him. Jones also cited two reasons for why he punched Flores.
Watch the video for more on the criticism over the arrest of Lazos-Guerrero and Flores, who according to FOX 31, didn’t show up for their most recent court appearance.