{"id":984213,"date":"2026-08-06T09:14:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T09:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/984213\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T09:14:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T09:14:17","slug":"attorney-for-woman-in-viral-tempe-police-takedown-video-alleges-groping-escalation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/984213\/","title":{"rendered":"Attorney for woman in viral Tempe police takedown video alleges groping, escalation"},"content":{"rendered":"

TEMPE, AZ (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 The attorney representing the woman at the center of a viral Tempe police takedown video<\/a> is speaking out for the first time, alleging officers escalated the situation and that one groped his client during the arrest.<\/p>\n

Civil rights attorney Benjamin Taylor is now representing Eryn Bonner following her arrest near Mill Avenue two weeks ago. Video of the incident has been viewed millions of times and has sparked debate over whether the officers\u2019 actions were justified.<\/p>\n

Attorney\u2019s allegations<\/p>\n

\u201cErin Bonner is a victim here, and she was traumatized by these officers,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n

Taylor alleged officers acted with excessive force from the outset, saying he was \u201cextremely shocked at how violent the officers reacted \u2014 just jumping on top of her, pushing her down several times, punching her in the face.\u201d He also alleged that in the video, an officer\u2019s hand can be seen on Bonner\u2019s buttocks during the struggle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did they go in so hot?\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n

He believes officers failed to attempt de-escalation before using force. \u201cInstead of having a conversation, they escalated the situation, and they\u2019re the ones who caused this violent act,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Police and legal responses<\/p>\n

Surveillance video outside a bar on Mill Avenue shows the incident began with two people in a confrontation before officers moved in. Tempe police released four video clips showing different portions and perspectives of the incident, saying the footage provides more context than a single cellphone clip alone.<\/p>\n

A Tempe police spokesperson said the department takes every allegation of officer misconduct seriously. The spokesperson also confirmed misdemeanor charges have been submitted to Tempe City Court.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be very vindictive of the City of Tempe to try to pursue any other misdemeanor charges in this case,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cClearly the video shows that the officer was the aggressor and the City of Tempe could have stopped this by a simple conversation, by moving people aside, this would never have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tempe Officer\u2019s Association called Taylor\u2019s groping allegation \u201cinflammatory,\u201d claiming Bonner is trying to avoid accountability amid a struggle created by her failure to back away and calm down.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement expert Dr. Ron Martinelli said use-of-force decisions are based on the level of resistance officers encounter. \u201cThe officer is allowed to use force to accomplish two goals: to overcome resistance, self-defense, and to control that individual,\u201d Martinelli said. \u201cFor certain levels of resistance or even force against an officer, an officer can escalate or they can de-escalate depending on what that other individual is doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police allege Bonner struck an officer in the face five to six times when he tried to arrest her. Taylor said officers\u2019 body camera footage does not clearly show that.<\/p>\n

Charges dismissed, misdemeanors pending<\/p>\n

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell declined charges of resisting arrest and aggravated assault. Taylor said the dismissal reflects what his client has maintained. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe resisting arrest, aggravated assault, those charges were dismissed by Rachel Mitchell because their office saw the same thing \u2014 that this is ridiculous what they did,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n

Mitchell said charging decisions are based on a review of all available evidence, not just publicly released video. \u201cI\u2019m sitting there evaluating it for whether there\u2019s a reasonable likelihood of conviction as to the charges that were submitted to our office,\u201d Mitchell said.<\/p>\n

Family statement<\/p>\n

Bonner\u2019s family shared photos showing the 21-year-old, a member of the ASU Stunt team, with a bruised face. The family released the following statement:<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no words to fully describe the heartbreak of watching our daughter be hurt by someone entrusted to protect and serve our community. The hardest thing is seeing the pain and sadness in her eyes that we cannot take away. Expecting public servants to live up to the highest standards of their profession is not an act of animosity toward those who serve with honor. Rather, it is essential to preserving public trust and upholding the integrity and legitimacy of our institutions. We respectfully ask for your prayers and support as our daughter and our family continue to heal.\u201d<\/p>\n

An internal review of the incident is still underway.<\/p>\n

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here<\/a> with a brief description.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 KTVK\/KPHO. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TEMPE, AZ (AZFamily) \u2014 The attorney representing the woman at the center of a viral Tempe police takedown…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":984214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,394938,1587,7182,394937,394939,1589,7183,57900,22394,203159,394936,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-984213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-phoenix","tag-america","tag-arizona","tag-attorney-benjamin-taylor","tag-az","tag-azfamily","tag-eryn-bonner-tempe-arrest","tag-mill-ave-police","tag-phoenix","tag-phoenix-news","tag-police-brutality","tag-police-violence","tag-tempe-az","tag-tempe-police-video","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117047805468332963","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/984213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=984213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/984213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/984214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=984213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=984213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=984213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}