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In a video that trended on social media Tuesday, an Austin police officer appears to grope the woman’s breasts while performing a search, even as she demanded a female officer.
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In a statement, the Austin Police Department said the officer acted appropriately since the encounter was recorded and another officer was present.
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The department also said the officer was conducting a search before transporting the woman to jail for “multiple hazardous traffic violations.”
A video on social media shows a male Austin police officer appearing to grope a woman’s breasts while performing a search following an apparent traffic violation.
In the video, which circulated Tuesday, the woman, identified by police as Rosalinda Nuno Trevino, demands a female officer while the officer continues to search the woman in front of a parked police vehicle.
In a statement published on July 7, the Austin Police Department defended the officer’s conduct. It said the officer, who has not been publicly identified, told Trevino that a female officer wasn’t available.
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“He conducted the search in front of a police vehicle where a vehicle camera could document and at least one other officer was present, as required by APD policy,” the statement reads.
The statement also said that Trevino was arrested for multiple traffic violations while following closely behind police vehicles.
“Ms. Trevino was placed under arrest for the multiple hazardous traffic violations to include, running a red light, failure to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians, improper use of a horn, and failure to maintain an assured clear distance,” the statement reads.
The video sparked outrage on Twitter. Several people accused the officer of sexual assault, and activists demanded that he lose his job.
The incident resembled a video that went viral last year, as an attorney of a 26-year-old woman in North Carolina who was subject to a search after being arrested and charged for driving while intoxicated, claimed that a police pat-down “crossed the boundary into sexual assault,” reported NBC affiliate WRAL.
Raleigh Chief of Police Cassandra-Deck said in a press conference that the “officer was absolutely professional in everything that he did,” according to NBC News.
Read the original article on Insider
