Marlene Pinnock spoke out This weekend for the first time since her brutal beating at the hands of a California Highway Patrol officer on July 1. Pinnock’s beating was videotaped by a motorist who stopped to film it on the side of a Los Angeles freeway.
Pinnock told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday that she believed the CHP officer was trying to kill her. She explained:
“He grabbed me, he threw me down, he started beating me, he beat me. I felt like he was trying to kill me, beat me to death.”
The beating happened on Interstate 10 west of downtown Los Angeles. Pinnock, who says she is homeless, was walking barefoot along the side of the road. The police agency has said that the woman was endangering herself by walking on an interstate highway and the police officer who beat her was trying to restrain her.
CBS News reports that Pinnock was released from the hospital last week after spending several weeks in treatment for head injuries stemming from the incident. Her attorney Caree Harper told the news agency that the woman now slurs her speech.
Pinnock has been homeless for the past three to five years and was on her way to a place frequented by the homeless where she said she felt safe to fall asleep. Harper added that the only way to get to the area was by walking along the freeway ramp. Pinnock is being supported by Harper to keep her off the street.
MSN News notes that Marlene Pinnock filed a lawsuit against CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow and Officer Daniel L. Andrew in federal court for civil violations. The suit claims excessive force, assault, battery, and a violation of Marlene’s due process rights. CHP won’t identify the officer involved, though the agency explained he was on the job for a year and a half and is on desk duty pending the completion of an internal investigation.
In his report, Officer Andrew wrote that Pinnock was a danger to herself and wrote that “upon contacting the subject she was talking to herself.” Marlene reportedly told him “I want to walk home” and called him the devil. Harper declined to talk about the circumstances that led to the beating.
Harper noted, however, “If in fact she did call him the devil, its secondary to the fact that he proved to be either the devil or a close relative.” She added that the officer “treated her in a manner nobody should ever be treated.”
Marlene Pinnock told the AP that she’s had nightmares about being beaten since the incident happened.
[Image: The Huffington Post ]
