Surveillance cameras captured the moment a police officer viciously punched a woman in the face outside her home in Brazil.
Video of the October 21 incident, obtained by EPTV on Monday, showed three members of the São Paulo Military Police surrounding the woman on the street.
The police officer in question then took a step back and punched the victim, whose name has not been released, as she fell forward onto the sidewalk.
The attacking officer then took out his handcuffs to restrain the woman with the assistance of another cop.
All three of the officers were removed from patrol, the São Paulo Miltiary Police said in a statement.
‘The Military Police does not condone misconduct by its officers and is investigating the case through a Military Police Inquiry,’ the police department said.
‘The officers who participated in the incident were identified and removed from their positions. Any and all excesses committed by officers will be punished in accordance with the law.’
The woman told EPTV that the cops were responding to a domestic dispute after the woman’s daughter called to report that they were arguing.
Three members of the São Paulo Military Police were removed from patrol duties Monday hours after a video surfaced of an October 21 incident in which one of them punched a woman in the face while questioning her over a domestic dispute involving her daughter
The woman suffered a bruised eye after she was punched by member of the São Paulo Military Police while attempting to place her under arrest outside her home in October
‘The police officer was aggressive with me right from the start. He said that if I didn’t stay quiet, he would break my face,’ the woman recalled.
‘He arrested me and I asked why. He said, “You stay quiet or I’ll break your face.”‘
The woman said she began to raise her voice to draw the attention of neighbors because she was fearful of the officer’s behavior.
‘I fainted immediately, I couldn’t see or hear. I fell to the floor unconscious. My neighbors asked them to call [emergency responders] to help me, but they didn’t let me, they put me in the police car and took me to the emergency room.’
The woman said that she did not receive immediate medical attention until a nurse alerted a doctor, who ordered X-rays of her head.
She was then taken to the police station and told the officer who punched her that she was not going to report the incident because she was scared.
The cop responded that she was free to file a report with the internal affairs department, but told her that he knew where she lived.
A report filed by the arresting officers alleged that the woman declined to go with them to the police station and that she said ‘police were s–t and trash.’
The woman was seen arguing with cops in São Paulo, Brazil on October 21 after they responded to a call from her daughter over an argument they had
Footage shows cops placing the woman under arrest moments after one of them punched her in the face. All three officers have been removed from patrol duties
In addition, the cops claimed that she ‘tried to punch the police officer in the face, who retaliated with a blunt blow, using moderate force, to contain her resistance and handcuff her.’
The woman refuted their allegations.
‘I would never, ever do something like that,’ she said. ‘At no time did I curse or attack them, I never laid a hand on them and I never said anything, nothing, I didn’t curse.’
The assault, she said, traumatized her and has prevented her from living a normal life.
‘Emotionally, I’m exhausted. I can’t sleep, I don’t feel like eating or doing anything. It’s destroyed me psychologically,’ she said.
‘Physically, I still have pain in my mouth, I have a scar on my face, and I have pain in my head… I’m destroyed.’
