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San Francisco woman injured during jaywalking arrest
A San Francisco woman said she was violently arrested by police officers after being wrongfully stopped for jaywalking.
SAN FRANCISCO - A San Francisco woman said she was violently arrested by police officers after being wrongfully stopped for jaywalking.
"What did I do wrong? I'm just walking across the street," Christiana Porter, 34, told KTVU on Monday.
Porter was accused of jaywalking in front of a San Francisco police car at 2nd Avenue and Geary Boulevard in the city's Richmond District on July 29.
Video footage showed Porter, wearing headphones and apparently unaware that an officer was attempting to stop her, walking across the street.
The officer is seen driving on the wrong side of Geary before exiting his vehicle. Porter moves away from the officer, and he pushes her against a wall.
In cellphone video taken by a bystander, Porter is heard screaming, "I'm not resisting."
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"Honestly, as a Black woman, just trying to stay alive. I thought about my five kids, trying to make it home to my kids," she said.
More police cars arrived on the scene with their sirens blaring. Additional officers ran over to help.
"I just don't trust them no more," Porter said. "I seriously don't trust them. I feel like they abuse and use their power and authority to brutalize and just torment and harass civilians."
Officer Josh McFall later told a witness that Porter refused to comply with his orders, including refusing to show identification or to keep her hands out of her pockets or purse, where there potentially could have been a weapon.
"I didn't want it to go this way, but when people put me in that position, I don't have a choice," McFall told the bystander.
Porter said she is a domestic violence survivor and that the police have also left her traumatized and injured with a concussion, a separated shoulder, and nerve damage.
"I'm not a threat, I'm just trying to get my life back," she said through tears. "When I told him I was a survivor, he was just, 'I don't care, this doesn't matter right now.'"
Her attorneys said police department regulations bar officers from ticketing people for jaywalking unless there's an immediate danger of a crash or safety issue.
"There are more serious crimes that should be addressed by the San Francisco Police Department, especially since they claim they're understaffed," said attorney Lateef Gray.
Another attorney Treva Stewart said, "Especially with regards to Officer McFall, it's a contempt of cop. He was angry about something."
Assemblymember Phil Ting wrote a law that decriminalizes jaywalking, with some exceptions.
"If there's something happening that puts the pedestrian or the driver at risk, that's when there should be a citation," Ting said, speaking generally.
Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan.