06-06-2015, 01:17 PM
Rare Prosecution and Conviction of Police Officer for Brutality/Assault
![[Image: 2964473100000578-3112892-image-a-8_1433556266940.jpg]](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/06/03/2964473100000578-3112892-image-a-8_1433556266940.jpg)
^ Alesia Thomas, 35, left her two children at a Los Angeles police station back in 2012. She left them with clean clothes, their grandmothers' phone number and a note saying she couldn't care for them because she was a drug addict.
Five police officers then went to her house to arrest her for child abandonment. Their reports indicate that Thomas resisted arrest.
![[Image: 2964723B00000578-3112892-image-m-7_1433556256735.jpg]](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/06/03/2964723B00000578-3112892-image-m-7_1433556256735.jpg)
![[Image: 2964472D00000578-3112892-image-a-20_1433553238629.jpg]](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/06/02/2964472D00000578-3112892-image-a-20_1433553238629.jpg)
^ LAPD Officer Mary O'Callaghan -- footage of restrained suspect being shoved in the throat
A dashboard camera in a police cruiser captured 50-year-old O'Callaghan making inappropriate comments and kicking the handcuffed Thomas in the backseat of the patrol car seven times in the groin, abdomen and upper thigh. Thomas, who was also seen shoved in the throat in footage, lost consciousness.
Paramedics were called to the scene, but Thomas was pronounced dead at a hospital.
An autopsy found Thomas had cocaine in her system, but the cause of death was listed as undetermined because the struggle couldn't be excluded as a contributing factor.
The DA's office pressed charges for assault and a 12-person jury found O'Callaghan guilty yesterday. She awaits sentencing. Her defense attorney is pushing for probation and plans to file an appeal.
Refs:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/female-lapd-...-who-died/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...rrest.html
^ Alesia Thomas, 35, left her two children at a Los Angeles police station back in 2012. She left them with clean clothes, their grandmothers' phone number and a note saying she couldn't care for them because she was a drug addict.
Five police officers then went to her house to arrest her for child abandonment. Their reports indicate that Thomas resisted arrest.
^ LAPD Officer Mary O'Callaghan -- footage of restrained suspect being shoved in the throat
A dashboard camera in a police cruiser captured 50-year-old O'Callaghan making inappropriate comments and kicking the handcuffed Thomas in the backseat of the patrol car seven times in the groin, abdomen and upper thigh. Thomas, who was also seen shoved in the throat in footage, lost consciousness.
Paramedics were called to the scene, but Thomas was pronounced dead at a hospital.
An autopsy found Thomas had cocaine in her system, but the cause of death was listed as undetermined because the struggle couldn't be excluded as a contributing factor.
The DA's office pressed charges for assault and a 12-person jury found O'Callaghan guilty yesterday. She awaits sentencing. Her defense attorney is pushing for probation and plans to file an appeal.
Refs:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/female-lapd-...-who-died/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...rrest.html