Horrifying footage shows NYPD officers tasering a pregnant teenager

By Rafi Schwartz  |  February 15, 2017 | 2:16pm
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The New York Police Department has launched an internal investigation after video surfaced of 17-year-old Dailene Rosario, who is pregnant, screaming in pain while being tasered by an officer in her apartment in the Bronx on February 10.

The incident reportedly stemmed from a separate police dispatch to the building, during which officers noticed a fight between two men in Rosario’s hallway. Speaking with the New York Daily News, Rosario explained that while one group of police addressed the fight in the hallway, two officers knocked on her door and attempted to enter her apartment to investigate an allegation that she and her sister had been fighting inside—which she denied. After reportedly asking the officers for a warrant to enter her apartment, Rosario was pulled into the hallway.

There, cell phone video shows officers attempting to restrain Rosario with her hands behind her back, while she cries out in pain. Then, a plainclothes officer is seen tasering Rosario, while onlookers repeatedly point out that she is pregnant.

“He said, ‘Oh you’re refusing,'” she told ABC 7. “Next thing I know, he grabbed my arm and pulled me into the crowd of cops. Somebody was pinching me, and then I got tased…(my right hand) was already in the cuff, and then I ended up on the floor.”

The NYPD claims Rosario pushed one of the officers in her doorway, and resisted arrest, saying, “I don’t want to talk to you!” according to court papers obtained by the Daily News.

Rosario described the tasering as “like your whole side is on fire and you’re being stabbed at the same time.”

While Rosario’s unborn child is reportedly fine, she has large burn marks from where the taser’s barbed wires pierced her skin.

Rosario is now reportedly charged with resisting arrest, harassment, and disorderly conduct. In a statement to PIX11, the NYPD acknowledged her arrest, saying, “We are aware of the incident. It is under internal review.”

According to the Daily News, witnesses have been interviewed as part of that investigation. However as of Tuesday night, no disciplinary action had been taken. Speaking with the paper, sergeants union head Ed Mullins defended the officers involved.

“I can tell you that from what I’ve seen, I really don’t see any issue with using the stun gun,” he explained. “She’s failing to comply with arrest.”

Rosario begged to differ.

“I could have lost my baby due to the Taser,” she said. “Anything could have happened.”

Mullins also had a unique take on Rosario’s pregnancy.

“I mean, how do you know somebody is pregnant unless they absolutely look pregnant?” he said.

 
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