(Hearst Communications) BART is investigating whether one of its police officers acted properly when he slammed a female passenger to the floor of a train at the Pittsburg/Bay Point Station, an encounter captured on video and posted online, an agency spokeswoman said Tuesday.
Some witnesses said the woman, whose name wasn’t released, had done nothing to warrant being taken to the ground. But BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said the woman had resisted arrest after being seen by other passengers acting erratically.
The incident happened about 9:30 p.m. Sept. 10. BART police were called to investigate reports that the woman was banging on train windows and trying to force open the doors, Trost said. An officer found the woman, who appeared to be passed out, on an SFO-bound train.
“The officer determined that the woman was intoxicated in public, and he attempted to place her under arrest,” Trost said. “The woman resisted being arrested, and additional BART and Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputies responded to assist.”
Paramedics at the scene believed she was under the influence of alcohol and methamphetamine. She was medically cleared at a county hospital and then booked at Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez on suspicion of public intoxication and resisting arrest.
Trost said she has forwarded videos of the incident to BART’s Office of the Independent Police Auditor. The name of the officer involved wasn’t released.
