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Woman Repeatedly Punched By CHP Officer In Viral Video Speaks Out
Marlene Pinnock, the woman who was seen receiving a flurry of punches from a CHP officer in a video that went viral last month, has spoken out for the first time since the incident saying she did nothing to provoke the attack.
Pinnock is seen in the video walking barefoot by the 10 freeway being apprehended by a CHP officer, who then throws her to the ground and then unleashes a barrage of blows to her head as she's pinned down. "It was hard bangs, like he was trying to beat me to death," Pinnock told ABC 7 in an interview. "He was just socking me with all his strength, with his hands all up over his head, giving it all he had."
"I can't understand why, because I did nothing to him," Pinnock said when asked if she did anything to provoke the attack.
The officer has since been placed on non-patrol duties, but has yet to be disciplined if ever. The CHP said it would be premature to punish him before any investigation was completed. For some, the CHP is dragging their heels on the case. "For almost seven weeks, the CHP has ducked, dodged, maintained a wall of silence about the beating of Marlene Pinnock. Are they in fact going to punish the officer who beat Marlene Pinnock? We have no information on that. It has been complete silence from the California Highway Patrol," said Earl Ofari Hutchison, President of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, on Sunday. Pinnock says she wants the officer fired.
The CHP has not released the officer's name, but a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Pinnock identifies him as Officer Daniel L. Andrew.
Pinnock, who says she has been homeless for five years, did not answer why she was wandering on the freeway onramp under the advisement of her attorney Caree Harper. The CHP may still press charges against Pinnock and Harper says she does not want to say anything potentially self-incriminating.
She says she has spent weeks recovering from the emotional and physical trauma in the weeks since the incident.
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"I just think why me? Why did it happen to me? What did I do?"
Related:
Family Of Woman Punched On Video By CHP Officer Wants Justice
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