Police Release Dashcam Footage Of Arrest Shown In 4-Second Video

Jason Addy
·4 min read

AURORA, IL — The Aurora Police Department on Sunday released footage from an Aug. 6 arrest that became the center of a social media storm over the weekend after a four-second clip taken with a cellphone was shared on Facebook.

Officials from the department posted a 5 minute, 49 second video of the events leading up to and following the clip seen by thousands online. The four-second video shows an Aurora police officer yanking a woman out of her vehicle by her arm.

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Many online said the woman, who Aurora police later identified as 20-year-old Ajani Livous, was unable to get out of her vehicle because she was recovering from a previous injury. The Aurora Police Department tried to quash that notion in a statement it issued Sunday alongside the dashboard-camera footage of the arrest.

“Social media posts have falsely claimed that the woman did not get out of the vehicle because she could not walk and requires the use of braces, a wheelchair, and a walker,” Aurora Police Department officials said in the statement. “In fact, the woman walks on her own throughout the incident and never tells the officers of any pre-existing conditions or injuries.”

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Three days after her arrest, Livous shared a post that included the four-second video as well as a photo of her in a wheelchair and a short video of her completing physical therapy that appears to have been filmed within the past year.

In a message with the post, Livous said she has still not fully recovered from a previous injury that has made it difficult for her to maintain her balance. Livous did not return a message from Patch on Monday seeking comment about her arrest.

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The video released Sunday night by Aurora police starts with an officer conducting a traffic stop on Livous’ SUV, which was parked on Illinois Avenue when police noticed its license plate was registered to a different vehicle.

After doing a U-turn to get behind Livous’ vehicle, an officer approached the driver’s window and told Livous she was pulled over because her license plate was registered to a Saturn sedan, not the Acura SUV she was driving. Livous told the officer to recheck her registration in the police database and then asked officers to explain why she was pulled over.

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The officer, who police did not identify, told Livous that her registration did not match her vehicle and that the vehicle smelled like marijuana. The officer asked for Livous’ license several times before opening the door and telling her she is under arrest.

The officer then told Livous to get out of her car and opened the door to grab her arm. After telling her to get out 20 times, the officer pulled her out of the SUV by her arm and held her against the vehicle while placing handcuffs on her.

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Aurora police said Livous was charged with a misdemeanor count of obstructing a peace officer and cited with improper display of registration, failure to notify the Secretary of State of an address change and operating an uninsured motor vehicle. No drug charges were filed against Livous.

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A minor sitting in the front seat was also arrested and charged with obstructing identification, police said.

Police said one of Livous’ family members later told them the license plates that were on the SUV she was driving were from another vehicle she owned.

Aurora police officials said they released footage of the Aug. 6 arrest “in an effort to provide complete transparency to the community and tell the entire story.”

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This article originally appeared on the Aurora Patch