A New Jersey police officer is in trouble after video showed him roughing up two teenage girls. Officer Hanifah Davis was suspended just after midnight on Friday, NJ.com learned.
This started after the footage became viral on social media. It showed a cop, identified as Davis, confronting two teenage girls. In the video, he can be seen grabbing them by the hair, and pushing them on the ground. The scene was frantic and loud, with bystanders complained about the officer’s behavior. Finally, a bald man in a tie stepped in front of the officer, saying “You have to get off of her.” The officer pushed him back.
The girls, twin sisters Kyasia and Nyasia Sorrells, spoke to the outlet about this. Kyasia suggested he was trying to clear the area before he grabbed her. Nyasia said she was just helping her sister.
“I’m trying to get him off of her, and he grabbed my hair and started like slamming me into the floor.” she said. “It was crazy. He needs to get fired.”
The sisters said they were booked with aggravated assault, obstruction of justice and other charges. They also identified the man who tried to help them: Mohammed Abdelaziz, a vice principal at Orange High School, where the girls are students.
The officer “punched him, tried to mace him,” Nyasia said.
The Orange Police Department and the town’s Mayor Dwayne Warren said in a joint statement that Addelaziz was ticketed as part of this incident. But they weren’t defending Davis. They said he will remain suspended pending the outcome of an investigation: The OPD and Essex County Prosecutor’s Office are looking into what happened on the footage.
Davis’ police union did not respond to comment by NJ.com
[Screengrab via NJ]
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