Huffington Post: Alesia Thomas's Death During Violent Arrest Prompts LAPD Investigation (VIDEO)

[visionary]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/31/alesia-thomas-death-lapd_n_1846775.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

Alesia Thomas's Death During Violent Arrest Prompts LAPD Investigation (VIDEO)

LOS ANGELES -- At least five police officers are under investigation after a woman died during a violent arrest in which an officer kicked her genitals, police officials said.

Alesia Thomas, 35, died July 22.

The confrontation with officers occurred after she abandoned her 3-year-old and 12-year-old children at a police station around 2 a.m. and they wandered inside, drawing the attention of an officer, police said.

"The officer said, `Hey, what are you kids doing here?' They said, `Well our mom doesn't want us anymore. She dropped us off at the police station,'" Cmdr. Andrew Smith, a department spokesman, told KTTV. Smith said the children told the officers they hadn't eaten for a couple of days.

Police Cmdr. Bob Green told the Times that the woman was giving up the children because she was a drug addict who could not care for them.

Beck wants to investigate whether she was intoxicated at the time of the altercation, or if her death may have been caused by a medical condition.

Police tracked down the South Los Angeles resident and were trying to arrest her on suspicion of child endangerment, police said. The incident was caught on a patrol car camera.