A Los Angeles sheriff's deputy punched a young mother “twice in the face” as she held onto a three-week-old infant during an arrest in Palmdale one year ago, Sheriff Robert Luna revealed in a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
The mother was riding in a car with four other passengers. which was stopped for driving at night without their headlights on.
Deputies reportedly smelled "an odor of alcohol coming from the car" after they pulled the male driver over and observed three women holding babies, without car seats.
The deputies made the "discretionary decision" to arrest the women and male driver for "felony child endangerment," according to Sheriff Luna. The driver was also arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence with a suspended license.
Body-camera footage released on Wednesday afternoon shows a mother holding a baby in her arms, surrounded by sheriff’s deputies, while sitting cross-legged on the pavement. For several minutes deputies try to get the woman to hand her baby over to them while the mother pleads for them to let her go.