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Wildwood Police Investigating Video Showing Officer Punching Woman On Beach While Trying To Subdue Her

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WILDWOOD, N.J. (CBS) -- Police in Wildwood are investigating a video posted to social media showing an officer punching a woman from Philadelphia in the head on the beach while trying to subdue her.

Police say an internal affairs investigation was immediately initiated following the incident on a beach near East Schellinger Avenue on Saturday and the officers have been placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of the full investigation.

Emily Weinman, 20, posted on Facebook that she was on the beach with her daughter, her daughter's father, and a friend when the incident occurred shortly after 4 p.m.

"I had alcohol, it's Memorial Day weekend and 90 percent of people are underage drinking on the beach, without a doubt. Two cops approach me on a their four wheelers and ask me and my friend how old we are, we gave them our ages. Then, we got breathalized, and it came back negative. I told them I wasn't drinking and the alcohol was clearly closed/sealed, which the cops seen," she wrote on Facebook.

Weinman claims she cooperated with their requests at first, but refused to give them her name when they asked for it to give her a citation.

"I asked them don't they have something better to do as cops than to stop people for underage drinking on the beach, saying to that there's so much more serious stuff going on... the cop said, 'I was gonna let you go but now I'll write you up' and he asked my name. I did not do anything wrong and anything could've been written down on that paper so I wouldn't give it to him," Weinman explains.

In their attempts to arrest her, the video shows Weinman on the ground with a cop punching her.

A second cop is seen reaching for handcuffs and grabbing her legs to keep her down.

Wildwood officials confirm that the video took place on a beach near East Schellinger Avenue.

Authorities say that Weinman was underage and drunk on the beach and refused to provide police with her ID. She then kicked the officer in the genitals and ran off.

Police say the officer chased her down and tried to subdue her.

Police say Weinman was charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, aggravated assault by spitting bodily fluids at/on a police officer, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstruction and minor in possession of alcohol.

In the video, people can be heard shouting at her to "stop resisting" while a third cop is seen keeping onlookers back. The third officer can also be heard telling those onlookers to "back up."

The video shared to Facebook has over 31,000 views.

Another video shared by a beachgoer on Twitter named Lexy has been seen over 1 million times.

 

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