A police body camera caught the gruesome moment a Black woman’s scalp was torn off by a K-9 unit in California, BET reports.
The footage, which was released this week, captured the violent arrest of Talkmika Bates by Brentwood Police after she was accused of shoplifting in February 2020. Bates, who was 24 at the time, is shown crying for help, screaming that the police K-9 is biting her as officers try to detain her in a wooded area.
“Mama, my whole brain is bleeding, mama,” she cries while talking to her mother on the phone.
WARNING: This video may be considered graphic for some viewers. Discretion is advised.
Bates and two others were allegedly caught on surveillance video taking $10,000 worth of perfume from a beauty store in Brentwood on February 10, 2020, according to KABC. The woman was involved in a high-speed chase with police after the trio fled the scene, and they eventually ditched their car to hide in the woods.
Officers reportedly dispatched a search dog, who found Bates hiding in a bush and attacked.
“I just feel something attacking me, like paws on my back, then I start feeling rips from the scalp here, here, here and teeth grinding,” Bates told reporters. “I thought I was going to die, I really did,” she continued. “No warning, no come out with your hands up, that would have been better for me, take me to jail.”
This wasn’t the first time this K-9, named Marco, was involved in a rough arrest. In January 2019, Officer Ryan Rezentus let Marco loose on a white female suspect accused of a domestic violence incident, according to a police report obtained by KGO-TV.
The woman is heard screaming in the body camera footage, and Rezentes shouted for a nurse. The suspect is later heard crying, claiming the dog bit her head several times, which led to her needing 11 stitches and treatment for injuries on her hand and arm.
WARNING: This video also contains graphic content. Viewer discretion is advised.
Bates’ scalp was able to be reattached, but she claims to “suffer nightmares, memory loss, and depression” since the brutal attack. She has filed a lawsuit against the city and the police officer involved in the arrest.
“I want the dog to be laid down, I want him to be fired, I want justice,” Bates says.
The Brentwood Police Officers Association defended the arrest, claiming that the officer was acting within the protocol and the use of the police dog was legal, Yahoo! News reports.
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