Iowa City police reviewing arrest after video clip shows altercation with a suspect

Police are reviewing the arrest of a 22-year-old Iowa City woman that was captured in a brief video clip.

A Facebook video taken late Friday by a bystander inside a South Clinton Street building, posted Saturday, shows several Iowa City Police Department officers attempting to put a woman in the back seat of a patrol car as she resists and tries to get out. An officer is seen picking her up by the back of her shirt and putting her in the squad car, after which he punches the woman repeatedly.

The video does not show the full confrontation and starts as officers are already attempting to put the woman in the patrol car, giving no indication of why she was being detained.

A Monday afternoon news release said the incident remains under review under ICPD's Use of Force policy.

About the incident: Woman arrested outside downtown Iowa City bar

A news release from ICPD on Sunday and criminal complaints filed to Iowa Courts Online say 22-year-old Daria Brown of Iowa City was arrested on Friday and charged with public intoxication; two counts of interference with official acts, one causing bodily injury; disarming a police officer, a Class D Felony; and three counts of assaulting a police officer.

A second news release on Monday evening from ICPD links to footage of the incident from a body camera and from the backseat of the patrol car. The footage shows officers approaching on foot when they see Brown banging on the windows of the bar Pints Iowa City.

The news release said Brown was denied entry from Pints due to her level of intoxication. The officers later learned that Brown had allegedly assaulted a bar employee, but the bar declined to press charges.

As officers attempted to arrest Brown, she can be heard telling them that she did not assault anybody and was of legal drinking age.

After Brown said repeatedly that she didn't want to go to jail, the officer began placing handcuffs on her and told her she was under arrest. Brown fell to the ground and resisted arrest.

The officers eventually got Brown on her feet and brought her toward the patrol car to talk to her about the incident. The officers repeatedly called Brown by her first name and asked her what happened that led her to kick the doorman.

The news release said Brown is known by the officers from previous encounters to be combative.

The officers then began walking her to a second patrol car. Brown resisted again, kicking the patrol car door multiple times despite an officer warning her she could be pepper sprayed.

The video is too dark to tell whether Brown attempted to grab the officer's taser and disarm him, but the officer is heard warning Brown she committed a felony when she allegedly attempted to do so.

The footage from inside the car shows officers attempted to get Brown into the patrol car while handcuffed. During the altercation that ensued, an officer attempted to deploy pepper spray, but was unsuccessful, according to the news release.

The video shows that as Brown was flailing, she grasped at the officer's belt, where a taser is typically kept. The officer ordered Brown to "let go of me" and then the officer punched Brown five times in the back.

The news release said Brown did not require any medical treatment at the time of her booking.

The remainder of the video shows Brown flailing in the back of the patrol car, kicking the door and insulting the officer driving. The video later shows Brown attempting to communicate with the officer and then repeatedly hitting her head against the cage separating the back and front seats.

The officer who was on video detaining Brown was identified in the complaints as Jeff Reinhard. In his written report, Reinhard did not detail the actions he took to get Brown into the patrol car.

The release said Brown allegedly resisted arrest and assaulted three officers during the incident. The complaints identified the officers who were kicked as Reinhard, Jessica LaKose and Melvin Herrera

Reinhard said in his complaint that he had to remove Brown from the patrol car after she began hitting her head on the cage for her own safety and was kicked in the shoulder by Brown in the process.

At the Johnson County jail, Brown allegedly continued to resist during the booking process and bit a Johnson County Sheriff's deputy in the leg, causing bruising and pain. This deputy was not identified in the criminal complaint.

Iowa City police say they are reviewing incident

Both of the news releases said the police department was aware of a video of the incident circulating on social media and that the incident is under review.

Court records show Brown is facing another charge of assault from a March 13 incident, when she allegedly punched a health care provider in the chest at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and attempted to bite a security officer. It is unclear what Brown was being treated for.

Brown has pleaded not guilty to this charge.

Brown has pleaded guilty to past charges of interference with official acts and public intoxication dating to August 2018. According to one criminal complaint, Brown admitted to assaulting a staff member at Mercy Hospital.

As of 2 p.m. Monday, Brown remained in custody at the Johnson County jail, according to the inmate roster online. Her bond was set at $5,000 and the bond was posted on Monday.

George Shillcock is the Press-Citizen's local government and development reporter covering Iowa City and Johnson County. He can be reached at (515) 350-6307, GShillcock@press-citizen.com and on Twitter @ShillcockGeorge

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Iowa City police review woman's arrest after video shows altercation