Surveillance footage recently released by the Emeryville Police Department shows a disturbing incident that occurred at an outdoor shopping mall near San Francisco on Black Friday that involved an off-duty highway patrol officer being choked unconscious and a woman being repeatedly shoved and threatened by a group of teens.
“A group of juveniles were arrested on Black Friday after assaulting a woman and an off duty CHP officer, according to authorities,” the Bay Area’s KRON reported Monday.
The incident took place at around 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 29, after the woman said she returned to the Emeryville’s Bay Street Mall, where she believed her cell phone was stolen by a group of teens.
As seen in the surveillance footage, the woman, who is wearing a white coat, approaches the group that she believes to have robbed her. When she walks over to ask them to give her the cell phone back, the situation quickly becomes violent.
The video (below) shows one of the teens, a male in a white hoodie and red hat, suddenly shove the diminutive woman, who refuses to back down despite being greatly outnumbered. Another male teen, wearing a black jacket, moves right in front of the woman in a threatening manner, refusing to let her question his peers. The teen who had shoved the woman soon joins his friend in the black jacket and the two walk threateningly toward the woman, compelling her to momentarily turn away.
While this is taking place, multiple bystanders can be seen failing to take any action despite the clearly escalating situation and the threat posed to the woman. When the male in the white hoodie shoves the woman again, a few people who also appear to be teens finally intervene. The woman still refuses to give up her quest to get back her phone. With tension mounting again, a man, who turned out to be a Chicago Highway Patrol officer, steps in to try to de-escalate the situation.
“After a few minutes, the off-duty officer, wearing civilian clothes, approaches and talks to the woman, then gestures toward the teens, possibly taking photos of them on his own phone, the video shows,” The Sacramento Bee reports. “Yanking off his hat and sweatshirt, at least one teen charges the man and a wild brawl erupts, the video shows.”
The situation gets so dire for the off-duty officer, that he attempts to run, but the group of teens chase him down and continue to punch and shove him.
“Some of the teens appear to try to intervene while others join in as the chaotic fight moves down a pedestrian walkway, into landscaping and then back onto the walkway, the video shows,” the Bee reports. “Several teens can be seen beating the off-duty officer, sometimes as he’s on the ground.”
Eventually one of the teens allegedly choked the officer until he became unconscious. When he regained consciousness, KRON reports, the officer pepper sprayed one of the more aggressive suspects.
“He was punched. He was kicked. He was taken to the ground. He was choked. He lost consciousness for a minute, came back, was able to defend himself,” detective Jaime Pardo told CBS News-affiliate KPIX.
As the surveillance footage shows, eventually, security officers, wearing yellow vests, arrive on the scene and try to restore order.
Emeryville police officers ended up arresting two of the teens, a 14-year-old and 16-year-old, on suspicion of assault. Authorities are seeking six other teens involved in the incident.
According to ABC 7, the officer who was assaulted reportedly drove himself to a hospital for treatment.
Surveillance video below via The Sacramento Bee: