Brickbat: Left Holding the Bag
Bodycam video shows a Rochester, New York, police officer pepper spraying a woman as her 3-year-old daughter looks on and cries "Mommy!" A store owner had accused the woman of shoplifting. When the cop confronted the woman outside the store, she offered to let him look into her bag. Instead, he said, "Oh, come on, they said you stole, tell me what you took. I don't have time for B.S. You better be quick with me." The woman then ran from him. The cop chased her, tackled her, and pepper-sprayed her. The video also shows another officer telling a bystander filming the arrest to "Get out of here." The woman was charged with trespassing. No shoplifting charges were filed against her. The officer is on administrative duty pending an internal investigation. But Interim Department Chief Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan said it appeared he acted within departmental guidelines.
