Megan Sheehan was arrested on St. Patrick’s day for public intoxication in Oakland, Calfornia, and booked into the Santa Rita jail. Sheehan, who worked as a bartender and model, is now filing a lawsuit against the city of Oakland and the Bay Area Rapid Transit for the use of excessive force by officers.
Sheehan was acting belligerently and resisted arrest. Officers then were caught on body cam slamming the drunk woman’s face to the ground with such force that it knocked her unconscious with several broken facial bones. The woman was almost unrecognizable after the spat with officers and is now suing for the lifelong scarring and damage she received from her arrest.
ABC 7 reports that Megan Sheehan was arrested for public intoxication at the Bay Area Rapid Transit station and was sent to the Santa Rita jail. During booking, an altercation between Sheehan and officers left the woman bloodied, battered, and unconscious on the jailhouse floor. The incident was caught on jail security footage along with an officer’s body cam. Sheehan says she suffered several broken facial bones and some of her teeth were knocked out. Now she is suing the city of Oakland and the BART for using excessive force during the takedown.
Sheehan admits that her behavior was wrong and that she should not have acted belligerently. She says she is embarrassed by her behavior that day and never should have allowed herself to get so drunk. However, she notes that there are obviously better ways to detain someone than smashing their face into the ground.
“I don’t believe that they should have broken four bones in my face and knocked out some of my teeth. I should have never gotten that drunk, but also there are ways to detain someone and not break their face.”
According to SF Gate , the BART officers noted that Sheehan was being very argumentative in the station and appeared unable to take care of herself. As a result, the officers decided to arrest the woman for public intoxication charges. However, when they took Sheehan to the ground to arrest her, the woman became combative and kicked an officer in the face. After finally getting the woman into custody, she was taken to the local Santa Rita jail for booking. This is where the alleged excessive force took place.
Once inside the booking area of the jail, officers claim that Sheehan’s handcuffs were taken off so that her jewelry could be removed. After initially being compliant, officers say Sheehan became angry when they told her she needed to remove her hair tie. As a result, she threw the hair tie at an officer and then began sifting through her purse as officers told her to stop.
One officer put her in an “arm bar control hold to gain compliance,” but Sheehan remained combative. Officers then say they “guided” Sheehan to the ground. However, in the process of “guiding her,” her face was smashed into the ground with enough force to break her facial bones and knock out some of her teeth.
Sheehan’s lawyer says this is clearly excessive use of force and that the officers report was clearly incorrect. The lawyer says that the video proves inconsistencies in the story of the officers and that Sheehan can not be seen “violently punching” as the report said. He notes that she was not being cooperative, but did not assault the officers in the manner suggested. Furthermore, he says there was no “guiding” Sheehan to the ground. Instead, he notes that she was sent to the ground with such force that she ended up lying unconscious in a pool of her own blood with a severely damaged face.
Do you think former model Megan Sheehan has a case against the city and police department for use of excessive force ?
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