Attorney: Video shows Taser being used on mother during arrest
ATLANTA (FOX 5 Atlanta) - Attorney Gerald Griggs believes the video of an Atlanta police officer arresting his client Maggie Thomas on May 1 speaks for itself.
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"You don't ever want a four year- old to see their parent being treated this way by police and then arrested and taken into custody for reasons we still don't understand," Griggs said Friday.
He told FOX 5's Portia Bruner the officer -- identified in an incident report only by the last name Hines -- used excessive force and arrested Thomas without a viable warrant without.
"He said there was an outstanding warrant for speeding, but there's no record of that," Griggs said.
He said Officer Hines used a Taser and punched Thomas after questioning her about a white vehicle she was sitting in at her apartment complex on Boulevard in northeast Atlanta. According to the attorney, the officer's questions about a lack of insurance and who else may have been driving the vehicle that evening quickly escalated.
"He said 'Are you going to make me tase you?’ and I asked him if he was going to tase me with my kid still in my arms and then that's when he tased me. And then he punched me when I was on the ground," Thomas said in a recorded interview with staff members from the Griggs Law Firm.
The attorney said he obtained video of the encounter from a neighbor and friend of Thomas. He posted the video of the encounter and her interview on his Facebook page Wednesday.
In the video, the 4-year-old daughter can be seen screaming and running from the officer with her mother, who was on the ground when she had the Taser was used on her.
Griggs said Atlanta police officials met with him, Miss Thomas and her 4-year-old daughter on Thursday and assured them the incident would be investigated. He described the meeting as very productive and encouraging.
"Atlanta is becoming innovative in the way that they handle these matters. I appreciate that they offered apologies to Miss Thomas and her daughter, but this officer should be fired and the charges should be dropped. I plan to reach out to the solicitor's office next week to see that that happens," Griggs said.
Atlanta police declined to comment on camera about the case but did issue a statement indicating the incident with Officer Hines is under investigation.
“We appreciate the opportunity for sound on this incident, but we respectfully decline. The incident has been referred to our Office of Professional Standards and the officer has been placed on administrative assignment. The department is working to gather all of the facts surrounding this incident.”
Below is the incident report as provided by the Atlanta Police Department:
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EDITOR'S NOTE: The above PDF was added despite redactions by both Atlanta Police and FOX 5 Atlanta to omit personal information to give the officer's officials version to the incident.