VANCOUVER, Wash. — Body camera footage and surveillance video provided by the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) shows two officers attempting to arrest a man suspected of shoplifting from an east Vancouver Walmart.
Before the officers could get the man in handcuffs, police said he punched one officer in the face and kicked the other in the chest. The officers managed to get him on the ground. That is when Officer Andrea Mendoza deployed a Taser on his back. Mendoza then pulled down his pants and threatened to do the same to his genitals, VPD said.
"Knock it off or I'll do it in your nuts," Mendoza can be heard saying in the body camera video.
Mendoza was placed on administrative leave within a few days of the May 21 incident. Just this week she was charged with fourth-degree assault.
"It seems like a little bit of an overstretch," Brian Higgins said.
Higgins is an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He is also a former police chief and director of public safety. He said he does not have a problem with Mendoza's actions.
"The officers would not have been forced to use any level of force had this individual just complied, so really what got the ball rolling is this individual's resistance," Higgins said.
Resistance or not, Vancouver Police Chief Jeff Mori is calling his officer's actions "disturbing."
"I want to emphasize to the community that my expectation is that at all times our personnel serve the public with professionalism, compassion, and respect," Mori said in a prepared video statement.
Among those who believe none of that was on display in this encounter is the mother of the man being taken into custody. His name is Elijah Guffey-Prejean.
Orlandria Prejean told KGW her son was profiled and assaulted. She wants Mendoza fired.
"This is totally ridiculous," Prejean said.
It is worth noting Guffey-Prejean is no longer facing charges for what happened back in May. Prosecutors dismissed those charges.
The Vancouver chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) sent a statement to KGW saying the officer "should be terminated for gross behavior."
The police union is standing by Mendoza. In a statement they say she did her job faithfully and did not commit a crime. They believe she will be exonerated.
Mendoza will make her first court appearance in early August.