COVINGTON, Ga. — The Covington community wants answers after an arrest went viral showing a woman in handcuffs with her pants down.
Residents said they want to know why police the woman was kept on the ground, partially clothed. Police said that isn't exactly the case.
It all stems from the arrest of Breonna Bell on last Thursday. Police released body camera video from the arrest Monday.
Authorities said on May 9, someone called for help getting a car unlocked. Police said the owner of the car wasn't there at the time, which they thought was unusual. But after checking into things and confirming the person who called police, the responding officer found out that the owner of the car, Bell, had outstanding warrants for probation violation. They found her not too far from the car with her baby in arm. That's when authorities said things quickly escalated.
In the video, the officer tells Bell she is under arrest. He asks her to put her child down and put her hands behind her back, but video shows her refuse.
"Her response indicated that she did not wish to go to jail, obviously, and began walking away from the officer - actually pulled away from the officer," Covington Police Capt. Malcom described. "That's when he extended his right hand and grabbed her right arm."
In the next moments, video shows the two struggling as the officer gives commands for her to cooperate. Bell can be seen trying to get inside the car to get away from the officer, with the baby still in arm. The officer tells Bell to give the baby to another woman in the driver's seat; she eventually does, but not before the baby slips out of her hands and briefly onto the ground. The child was not hurt.
After Bell hands the child over, video shows her continuing to refuse to surrender to police. During the extended struggle, the officer's body camera also falls to the ground.
"You can see as well during the struggle that the officer had his body camera knocked off," Malcom explained. "You can't see, but you can hear the officer pleading with Ms. Bell to put her hands behind her back."
At some point during the struggle, Malcom said Bell's pants did indeed slip down. But once the officer was able to arrest Bell with the help of another officer, Malcom said they raised her pants back up so she was fully clothed.
Other officers also responded, but by the time they got to the scene, Malcom said Bell was already under arrest.
Police said Bell was checked out, but was not found to be hurt. They took her to the jail after.
Now, in addition to the probation violation, Bell faces a charge of obstruction of an officer.
Covington Police say the officer is back at work.