Police officer punched 20-year-old woman in the face during fight caught on video

Elise Solé
A Chester police officer in Pennsylvania punches a woman. (Screenshot: Zeb_Wright/Twitter)
A Chester police officer in Pennsylvania punches a woman. (Screenshot: Zeb_Wright/Twitter)

A police officer punched a young woman in the face with a weapon after she shoved or hit him during a St. Patrick’s Day riot in Chester, Pa. The woman and three others were arrested.

In a video, a 20-year-old woman later identified as Dominique DiFiore appears to hit a Chester police officer, and he reciprocates, punching her with a weapon. A witness told CBS Philly that the officer tased her ear while she lay in the street.

“Her whole ear was gushing blood,” Jaylene Westfall, who was arrested as well, told CBS Philly. “She was nonstop bleeding by the ear. She was in shock.”

Chester Police Chief James Nolan published a Sunday Facebook post explaining that officers were called to a house party because uninvited guests were attempting to enter. When they were turned away, say police, a Levittown woman named Jaylene Westfall, 19, assaulted two residents. Party members locked the door to keep out the mob, however, the group forced its way in, assaulting people in their path.

“A partial video of the event is circulating on various social media platforms. The incident, the video, and level of force used in connection with the event are all currently under investigation,” Nolan said. “There were numerous assaults and a college-age St. Patrick’s celebration going on in the neighborhood at the time of this incident. Police are still conducting investigations to determine if other persons will be charged in relation to the events of the day.”

Along with DiFiore, who was taken into custody by officers on the scene, four other party attendees were arrested and charged with several violations of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code including aggravated assault and alcohol-related offenses, according to Nolan.

Yahoo Lifestyle requested arrest records from the Chester Police Department but did not hear back. The arrests were reportedly made during a Widener University pub crawl, however, the school told CBS Philly, “An incident that led Chester police to arrest four individuals Saturday, March 16 on aggravated assault and other charges did not take place on the Widener University campus and was not a university-sanctioned event. The four people who were arrested are not Widener students. The matter is under investigation by Chester Police.”

“It was just very hectic,” senior Zachary Whalen told CBS Philly. “I would say probably 30, 40 people were just running around here, just beating the crap out of each other… Granted, she did push the officer so as soon as you do that, I was like, ‘This is not going to be good.'”

DiFiore, who is reportedly in jail on a $75,000 bond, did not return outreach from Yahoo Lifestyle (and the other three arrested could not be reached for comment). Her family told CBS Philly that the officer used excessive force.

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