Social media video raises questions over ‘use of force’ by San Diego Police officers – NBC 7 San Diego

NBC 7 reached out to the San Diego Police Department about this video to understand what led up to this moment.

As of right now, we are still awaiting a response.

We talked with neighbors who said they witnessed what happened.

Neighbors said the incident happened in front of a liquor store on 38th street and National Avenue.

Aurora Morales lives just across the street.

She said Saturday she was inside her home when she heard what appeared to be an argument between a man and a woman.

When she looked out the window, she saw what appeared to be a man trying to hit the woman’s car window.

“It seemed like he wanted her to get out of the car,” Morales said.

She said she then heard the man telling the woman he was going to pull something out of the car.

That’s when Morales saw the man grab what appeared to be an iron tool to break the window.

Shortly after, she said multiple San Diego Police Officers arrived, including in a helicopter.

“Initially the man seemed a little aggressive and to resist arrest, that’s when officers arrived with the K-9,” Morales said.

Morales said the man eventually put his hands up leading up to his arrest.

This video shoared on a San Diego influencer Instagram page shows what neighbors said appears to be the moment of the arrest.

It captured what Morales and others in the community are calling “excessive use of force” by the officers.

Community activist, Tasha Williamson, said after learning about the incident she sent a complaint to San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl, Mayor Todd Gloria, and State Attorney General’s Office Rob Bonta among other officials.

“This is not in San Diego PD’s training, this is not in San Diego Police Policy, and this is illegal and so we are saying hold them accountable for it,” Williamson said.

Williamson said the video appears to be a violation of the police use of force policy.

“He puts his knee on the neck of the person that they’re trying to detain or arrest,” Williamson said.

Something that’s prohibited, according to patrol policies cited in an SDPD Policy manual revised in 2022.

“There have been countless incidents,” Williamson said.

In the recent Southcrest incident, Morales said at one point she heard her neighbor and the woman begging police to let the man go.

“They started yelling let him go,” Morales said.

NBC 7 also reached out to Mayor Todd Gloria’s office and is awaiting a response.