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Outrage follows video showing cop punching woman. Story takes another turn when more facts come out.
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Outrage follows video showing cop punching woman. Story takes another turn when more facts come out.

A video featuring a police officer punching a female beachgoer in the head over the weekend went viral, but it all happened before all of the facts surrounding the altercation had been revealed.

What are the details of the video?

In the video, three police officers can be seen addressing a Pennsylvania woman lounging on a Wildwood, New Jersey, beach.

The video was shared to Facebook on Saturday, where it amassed more than 3 million views, according to CNN.

The woman — later identified as 20-year-old Philadelphia resident Emily Weinman — was seen on the ground with an officer on top of her. Weinman lashed out at another police officer and knocked over a beach chair in the process.

The first officer then hit her in the head with a fist and pinned her to the ground as the first and second officers attempted to handcuff her. Someone in the video repeatedly said, "Stop resisting."

Weinman can be heard shouting, "You're not allowed to hit me and choke me like that. I didn't do anything wrong."

The video ends before viewers can see how the rest of the arrest goes.

On Sunday, the Wildwood Police Department issued a statement noting that it would launch an investigation into the incident.

What was Weinman's account of the incident?

According to a now-deleted Facebook post captured by WCAU-TV, Weinman detailed the experience and said that she was only "partly" wrong.

WCAU reported that Weinman's post said that she and a friend were confronted by two officers while in possession of alcohol on the beach while underage.

Weinman had been visiting the beach with her daughter, her daughter's father, and a friend, according to the station. She was adamant that no alcoholic containers were open and that she wasn't drinking at the time.

She also claimed that she took a breathalyzer test, which came back negative, according to the station.

Weinman said that after the test, the officers remained in the area.

“Therefore I asked them don’t they have something better to do as cops than to stop people for underage drinking on the beach, saying that there’s so much more serious stuff going on,” Weinman wrote according to WCAU. “The cop said, ‘I was gonna let you go but now I’ll write you up’ and he asked my name.”

Weinman said that she was afraid and that, because she "didn't do anything wrong," refused to provide her name to the officer.

She wrote that the officer then said he was going to arrest her and approached her with handcuffs.

“I tripped and fell and the cop tackled me to the ground and smashed my head into the sand,” Weinman wrote. “At that point I blacked out and fought any way possible trying to get up and push him off me.”

Weinman added that she was "partly wrong in a way" for not giving the officer her name but that she didn’t want to do it because she was scared.

So what are cops saying now?

On Monday, officials revealed more details behind Weinman's arrest as well as that viral video.

City officials revealed that Weinman's claims that she hadn't been drinking were false, because she was reportedly drunk when police administered the breathalyzer test, according to a report by KYW-TV.

Law enforcement also revealed that Weinman reportedly kicked one of the arresting officers in the genitals while attempting to flee, and also reportedly spit on an officer.

KYW also reported that police charged Weinman with two felony 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.

Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. told NJ.com on Sunday that the police officers were simply doing their jobs, and Weinman "refused to comply."

"People come down [to Wildwood] to have a good time and we want them to have a good time, but we also want them to obey the laws," Troiano said. "That is not a hard thing to do. Just obey the laws. It is amazing the amount of people that just believe they can drink. It is amazing the amount of kids who come down here and just feel like the law doesn't pertain to them."

"We are taking an aggressive stance to end it," Troiano added, later noting that Wildwood is a "good town" that "treats people well, provided they act accordingly" and not "foolishly."

Anything else?

This is not the first time Weinman has had trouble with the law.

According to court documents, police arrested Weinman in 2016 and charged with simple assault, criminal mischief, burglary, criminal trespass, and recklessly endangering another person.

In November, Weinman plead guilty to misdemeanor simple assault and misdemeanor "recklessly endangering another person."

She was sentenced to four years' probation and was required to pay about $10,000 in restitution and court costs.



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