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Arizona Police Bodycam Shows Lady Cop Beating Restrained 9-Month Pregnant Woman—Chief Issues Statement as Officer Defends Herself

By Pragya Chowdhury
An Arizona police officer celebrated for her traffic enforcement record faces felony charges after a grand jury indicted her for allegedly assaulting two restrained individuals who were in police custody.  Maricopa County prosecutors brought the indictment against Officer Carri Carrico on Wednesday following an independent criminal investigation. The Buckeye Police Department immediately placed Carrico on unpaid administrative leave pending the finalization of parallel internal discipline proceedings.  The criminal case stems from a request initiated in January by Buckeye Police Chief Robert Sanders. Troubled by preliminary administrative findings, Sanders requested Maricopa County Sheriff's Office conduct an outside criminal probe into Carrico's behavior during two distinct use-of-force episodes.  Court records filed in the case detail an encounter in late 2025, where Carrico arrested a woman who was 37 weeks (9 months) pregnant for reckless driving. Investigators allege that while booking the suspect at the police station, Carrico struck the handcuffed woman in the head while securing her to a holding bench.  According to body camera footage, Carrico insulted the woman by calling her "gross," "nasty," and "an a," while also warning her that her attitude would dictate whether or not she was taken to jail.

The Arizona woman was transported to the hospital for evaluation, where medical staff diagnosed her with a contusion and checked her for a potential concussion. The next day, she detailed her physical injuries to the investigators.

"I got scratches right here, a bruise right here, a scratch on my neck. I got like two things on my back," she said.

A second, separate probable cause statement outlines another instance of physical force deployed against a male suspect. In that incident, Carrico allegedly struck the individual while he was being booked into a Maricopa County jail facility. 

The male victim said, "She tore my shirt. She punched me in the face when I was already restrained." While striking him, Carrico said, "I will smash you so hard into this f****** wall you won't see straight,' she said. 'Do you understand me? Do you f****** understand?"

Officer Sanders said in a formal statement detailing the criminal charges against his subordinate. He said:

"No officer should ever lay their hands on a restrained person who is handcuffed and not showing any threat. So this is definitely excessive force." — Benjamin Taylor, civil rights attorney, Kjzz
During an internal audit, addressing the Arizona pregnant woman's bodycam video, Carrico said, "[The] video looks really ugly."

But she defended herself, continuing to say, "I will say I've never once in my life open-handedly slapped or struck anybody. And in this moment, I just think the only thing that I did was revert to my training."

By targeting a heavily pregnant woman and a restrained prisoner, the allegations puncture the armor of the department's public relations achievement. The case forces a reckoning over how law enforcement agencies audit their "top performers" before their internal misconduct escalates into corporate liability and federal civil rights violations.  Furthermore, Sanders publicly urged local citizens to evaluate his agency by the professionalism of its broader roster, rather than the isolated actions of a single indicted officer. Disclaimer: Inquisitr individually could not independently confirm the facts of this incident and is reporting based on the official law enforcement information and court records available.

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