A Black woman said she was left with a injuries and memory loss after a violent encounter with Kansas City police officers, who called her an "animal."
Video obtained by the Kansas City Star shows the arrest of 25-year-old Daysheion Rene Ponds outside of a bar in the Power & Light neighborhood.
In the video, officers appeared to pin Ponds to the ground, pressing her face into the cement and their knees on the back of her legs.
“If you act like an animal, we’re going to treat you like an animal,” one of the officers can be heard yelling. Another officer threatened to arrest the bystander recording the incident. Ponds was later taken into the bar's office, where she could be heard screaming.
Ponds was accused of stealing a drink, screaming obscenties at the bar's manager, jumping over the bar, and kicking and biting an officer. The woman claimed she was charged for a drink she didn't order or receive, and that her debit card was declined.
Ponds told the Kansas City Star that the officers used excessive force during her arrest.
"I’m 5’2” and I’m under 150 pounds,” Ponds said. “I was no threat, I couldn’t have hurt them in any way and the whole time that they were hitting on me and beating me. I was in handcuffs, so I couldn’t have done anything extreme to them.”
Following the incident, Ponds said she unable to recall the exact details of what happened due to memory loss. She also stated that the arrest left her with a concussion, swollen eye, and bruises on her face.
Capt. Jacob Becchina, a Police Department spokesman, said Ponds' arrest was “usual protocol.”
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