LOS ANGELES — Video of an officer dragging a teen off a Los Angeles Metro train after she apparently put her foot on a seat is causing controversy.
The teen, identified by CBS Los Angeles as 18-year-old Bethany Nava, was reportedly asked to take her foot off the seat Monday by a Los Angeles Police officer. He then orders Nava to get off the train, which she refuses.
“I paid to be on this train,” Nava is heard saying in the cell video captured by a fellow train rider.
The officer then grabs her by the arm and drags her off the train.
“This is not [expletive] fair that you took me off the train because I had my foot there, because I was comfortable like that,” Nava tells the officer as they are both on the platform.
Another woman, identified by the station as Selena Lechuga, 22, approaches the officer in an attempt to intervene. After asking Lechuga to back away from the scene, the officer warns her she is “impeding” the investigation and radios for backup.
“I’m not going to leave because I’m going to stand up for my people no matter what,” Lechuga is heard responding to the officer.
Moments later, five additional officers arrived on scene and took both Nava and Lechuga into custody.
During her arrest, Lechuga is heard yelling expletives at the officers and shouting, “This is racism! This is what we are!”
She is also seen on video spitting at one of the officers and was arrested on suspicion of battery. Both women were cited and later released, the station reports.
The Los Angeles Metro is patrolled by a multi-agency law enforcement partnership that includes the LAPD, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, the Long Beach Police Department, as well as Metro’s own security personnel, CBS Los Angeles reports.
Police later told CBS Los Angeles that Nava was being loud and boisterous on the train and had violated the disorderly conduct code under Metro rules.
Both Metro and the LAPD are investigating the incident.
“I am extremely disappointed, our riders deserve better,” Metro CEO Phil Washington said in a statement released to the station. “We want the Metro system to be a safe environment for everyone. I expect more from our law enforcement partners. This incident is still under investigation, but I want to be clear: this is not the kind of policing I want on our system.”
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the officers’ body cameras will help shed more light on the incident.
“My expectation of the MTA… is that there will be courtesy from everyone. I expect that from the individuals who ride – I expect that from law enforcement,” Garcetti said. “I know MTA and LAPD has launched an investigation. I also know that videos sometimes tell one picture. We’ll have the videos that officers have – as well as the videos that were made.”
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