A Pittsburgh woman suffered a beating from a police officer, and the scene was caught on video.
The attacked occurred on Sunday at Pittsburgh’s Pride in the Street festival, a gay and lesbian event.
A 15-second video posted online by a woman who witnessed the incident shows Pittsburgh police officer Souroth Chatterji tossing 19 year-old Ariel Lawthler to the ground and punching her in the stomach several times, according to WTAE.
The video begins with Chatterji tossing Lawthler to the ground.
A voice is heard on the recording shouting, “Well now she’s going to get arrested” over a bullhorn.
And then things got violent.
Lawthler struggled with Chatterji before he is seen punching her several times, landing a few blows in her midsection.
The crowd voiced their anger, with the videographer heard yelling, “What are you doing?!”
A police complaint filed after the incident sheds more light on what happened.
Lawthler was involved in an altercation with a group of people protesting the gay and lesbian event. When Chatterji intervened, he said that Lawthler began pushing him and striking him in the chest and groin area, according to WTAE.
Chatterji described the situation as a “rapidly evolving and tenuous situation.”
“I turned and saw Lawther who still had her hands up in a combative stance and her head lowered, thus I grabbed her hand,” wrote Chatterji in the complaint.
“Thus, to diffuse the situation quickly before I was attacked by the crowd once more, I punched Lawther in the left abdomen several times to distract her enough so I could handcuff her.”
Chatterji wrote in his report that Lawthler apologized after the incident, saying that she was not aware he was a police officer.
The incident is being investigated by the city.
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