FORT WORTH, Texas — Wednesday, the Fort Worth Police Department released more information and footage regarding an internal use-of-force investigation surrounding the arrest of Carolyn Rodriguez.
In a new statement, FWPD said the officer involved, who has still not been identified, has been reassigned.
"The involved officer, who has been with the Fort Worth Police Department for seven years, has been administratively reassigned out of patrol, pending the outcome of the investigation," the statement read.
Police also released two pieces of footage in the arrest. One shows surveillance footage without sound from a nearby business, and the second shows body camera footage from the involved officer.
The body camera footage shows the officer exiting a patrol car and addressing Rodriguez, saying "Carolina we're busy." Seconds later, the officer tells her she can move across the street or he will arrest her. Rodriguez responds "What are you talking about?" and asks why.
The officer then tells her she's under arrest and reaches to handcuff her. Rodriguez can be heard saying "no, no, no" before the officer says "stop resisting" and throws Rodriguez to the pavement.
According to Rodriguez, she was knocked unconscious at that moment. Still, the officer continues to yell "stop resisting."
Fort Worth attorney Ben Westbrook is representing Rodriguez in a civil lawsuit she plans to file. Westbrook shared his reaction to the bodycam footage with WFAA.
"The video confirms what I think we already knew from the last stream, the officer comes out very confrontational and does not act reasonable," Westbrook said. "The escalation of the entire incident is what stands out to me. It's not something that required use of force at all."
Westbrook said his client is still dealing with a lot of pain from her injuries.
"There shouldn’t be an escalation to the point where someone is suffering life-altering injuries in the hospital because they're knocked out," Westbrook said.
The entire interaction between the first words exchanged and Rodriguez being knocked unconscious lasted 15 seconds.
A female officer on the scene looked down at Rodriguez and said "She's bleeding".
Rodriguez sustained multiple injuries during the arrest and was taken to the hospital for treatment, according to a police statement.
Fort Worth councilmember Chris Nettles, who first called for the release of police bodycam footage, said officers must maintain composure and "you can see in the video that composure was lost."
She was later released from the hospital, booked into jail, and charged with Interference with Public Duties, Resisting Arrest and/or Detention, Evading Arrest and False Alarm or Report.
Nettles said it didn't appear Rodriguez evaded arrest during the interaction.
"I didn’t see any evading arrest once she was knocked to the ground. She was pretty much knocked unconscious. She was not moving," Nettles said.
The department reiterated the Fort Worth Police Department Major Case and Internal Affairs Units are investigating the incident. FWPD says they've also sent the video to the Fort Worth Office of Police Monitor, a civilian police oversight board.
Nettles said city leaders and FWPD plan to hold a closed-door executive session on the issue on Friday, and a press conference will take place after the meeting.
"We will not continue to tolerate any ill behavior of any type of officer who is acting erratically towards a citizen," Nettles said.
View the footage of the arrest here: