Deputy punching baby-holding mother's face was 'completely unacceptable,' LA County sheriff says

LOS ANGELES (AP) — For the second time in a week, the Los Angeles County sheriff decried the use of force by deputies in the Antelope Valley after the Sheriff’s Department released video on Wednesday of a deputy punching a woman twice in the face as she held her baby.

The edited video from body camera footage shows the July 2022 encounter during a traffic stop in Palmdale, northeast of Los Angeles.

At a news conference, Sheriff Robert Luna said he found the punching “completely unacceptable” and has sent the case to the county district attorney’s office, which will decide whether to file criminal charges against the deputy. The FBI also was alerted, Luna said.

Luna said the deputy, whom he didn’t name, has been taken off field duty.

https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-deputy-punches-woman-3608f660b8d62423cb73cfea6d7e4278