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Family Of Woman Involved In CHP Assault Video Wants Officer Punished

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The family of a woman who was caught on video being punched by a CHP officer on a freeway, is speaking out for the first time as they say they want the officer punished.

The video was released after Marlene Pinnock can be seen on video, captured July 1, being punched by the officer, who says he had worried for her well-being, as well as his, after claiming that she was not cooperating with orders to get out of the lanes of the freeway.

The officer alleges that Pinnock was wandering into traffic, and that she became combative.

Pinnock's attorney described the alleged injuries.

"She has suffered multiple injuries," Pinnock's attorney Caree Harper said. "She is having to press ice compacts repeatedly on her body, face, arms, shoulders. One shoulder lump is so large that it is the size of a small plum on her arm."

Pinnock's family accuses the CHP of attempting to keep her hidden, alleging that she was checked into Martin Luther King Medical Center under a different name.

"They kept her from me, they wouldn't let me see her," a family member said. "So I don't know what was going on, but today was the first day that I was finally able to see her and talk to her, and I just thank God that she's alive."

Pinnock's attorney says that the evidence of the video is obvious to show who she believes is at fault.

"The focal point of what she did of the freeway is simple; she got beat," Harper said. "She got savagely beat by someone who seemed like he was trying out for mixed martial arts, and it's absolutely unacceptable."

CHP, meanwhile, says that the video does not show the events that transpired to reach the point that was recorded on tape.

"The tape only shows a small part of what transpired, there were events the led up to this," CHP Assistant Chief Chris O'Quinn said. "Until all that is collected, and put into perspective, we are not going to be able to make a determination."

Pinnock was reportedly up on a 72-hour hold so that her mental state could be evaluated.

 

RELATED LINKS:

CHP Investigating Excessive Force Charge In Beating Of Woman

CHP Investigating Beating Of Woman On Shoulder Of 10 Freeway

Civil Rights Leader Wants CHP To Identify Officer Involved In Freeway Assault Video

 

 

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