Wildwood, NJ – Wildwood police have released bodycam footage of officers’ confrontation with an entitled 20-year-old woman at a local beach over Memorial Day weekend (videos below).
A bystander’s cell phone footage of Emily Weinman’s arrest quickly went viral, and showed one officer as he hit the combative woman during the altercation.
Please be sure to share this newly-released information on social media to help counter the false narratives of what happened.
The incident occurred at approximately 4 p.m. on May 26, when Wildwood police encountered Weinman at the beach with her boyfriend and 18-month-old daughter.
In a since-deleted Facebook post, Weinman explained that although she was underage, 90 percent of people who drink alcohol on the beach are underage “without a doubt.”
When the officers asked for their ages, she said they admitted they were underage.
Bodycam footage showed Weinman as she provided two breath samples for alcohol testing.
She claimed that the alcohol belonged to her aunt, so the officer asked her to contact her to have her come to their location.
Weinman grabbed her cell phone, then wandered away from the officers.
“Go grab her real quick,” one officer told his partner. “We’re gonna have them pour that all out.”
In her post, Weinman claimed that the officer was going to let her off with a warning, but that he changed his mind after she told him he needed to find “something better to do” than to address underage drinking on the beach.
“I was gonna let you go but now I’ll write you up,” he said, according to Weinman. The officer then asked for her name.
Weinman argued that “you’re allowed to carry alcohol,” even when underage, and claimed she had done nothing wrong, because she hadn’t consumed any, the video showed.
“That’s interesting,” one officer replied.
He explained that possession of alcohol was still a violation, despite Weinman’s beliefs to the contrary.
When the officers asked Weinman and her boyfriend for their identifying information, she became argumentative, and refused to cooperate.
Weinman said that she "did not do anything wrong," so she refused to give the officer her name because "anything could’ve been written down on that paper," according to her Facebook post.
“You’ll lock me up for obstruction with my f*****g 18-month-old daughter over there?” she asked an officer at one point in the video.
“Yeah, you’re not cooperating,” he calmly replied. “I’ll give you one more chance to give me your last name.”
“You’re not going to lock me up,” Weinman said defiantly. “I didn’t disrespect you.”
She continued to argue with the officer, who gave her multiple additional opportunities to provide him with her name.
“You don’t need my last name,” she finally told him, as she began to leave the area.
“Okay, that’s it. I’m done with you,” the officer said, grabbing a pair of handcuffs from his partner. “Come here.”
“Don’t you f*****g touch me!” Weinman turned around and yelled, before she resumed her march away from the pursuing officer.
“You’re about to get dropped,” he cautioned her.
“Yo! Don’t f*****g cuff me!” Weinman yelled.
According to Wildwood Police Chief Robert Regalbuto, Weinman “forcibly struck” the officer in the torso, which caused his camera to turn off, NJ.com reported.
You can see the camera going off at the moment of impact.
That's when Weinman says she backed up and "tripped and fell." After tripping and falling, she says the officer somehow tackled her to the ground and "smashed my head in the sand."
"At that point I blacked out and fought any way possible trying to get up and push him off me," Weinman posted.
The fight between the officer and Weinman was underway when the officer managed to reactivate his bodycam.
As they tumbled onto the sand, Weinman hurled expletives at the officer, and continued to resist arrest, the video showed.
“They’re choking me!” she began to scream, while beachgoers looked on. “You f*****g d**k head! Get the f**k off me, yo!”
The officer delivered several strikes to subdue the combative woman, who began wailing and screaming for her boyfriend.
"It appears to me like he was trying to use a pressure point strike to be able to bend her arm, but the [internal affairs unit] hasn't done the interview yet so we will find out from the officers themselves," Chief Regalbuto told NJ.com.
“You’re not allowed to beat me like that!” she complained in the video. “I’m a woman!”
“Get off me! My daughter is right there seeing this!” Weinman continued, while the officers secured her in handcuffs.
Weinman turned her head, and spit at one of the officers during the scuffle before she was led away to a waiting patrol vehicle.
In the video, the officer recapped the series of events for another officer who had arrived.
He explained that the officers saw Weinman in possession of “Twisted Teas,” and that she admitted she was only 20 years old.
She refused to provide her information and tried to walk away, then kicked the officer’s partner, he said.
"Yes, i know I should’ve gave him my name,” Weinman said in her since-deleted post. “I was partly wrong in a way but I was scared; Like I said I didn’t do anything wrong and anything could’ve been written on that paper, the whole situation was iffy and I didn’t trust it.. especially being aware of the fact of how grimy law enforcement can be now a days.”
"I can say if I took even a sip, then I would’ve gave them my information and called it a day; I’m underage, so I know better” she wrote. “But this whole situation was handled wrongly and blew out of proportion all because these pigs didn’t do their jobs the way they were TRAINED to do so.”
"Oh, did I mention that they didn’t even take the beer [like they’re supposed to since we were underage] and finish getting my friends info?? They obviously were there to stir the pot. I know I’m not the first this happened too and definitely am sure that I will not be the last!!" she concluded.
Wildwood Officer Thomas Cannon, Officer Robert Jordan, and Officer John Hillman were all involved in the arrest, NJ.com reported. It was unclear which officer struck Weinman during the arrest.
The officers were placed on administrative duty, pending the outcome of an internal investigation, the department said on May 27.
"From what I see on the video and only on the video, from not even talking to the officers, I think they did a decent job," Chief Regalbuto told NJ.com. "I think we could have done a better job at trying to explain to her, but it didn't appear Ms. Weinman wanted to hear what we had to say. She tried to tell us it was okay for her to possess alcohol and that doesn't make any sense."
Weinman has been charged with aggravated assault by spitting bodily fluids at/on a police officer, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, obstruction, minor in possession of alcohol, and two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, the department said.
You can watch bodycam footage of Weinman’s arrest in the videos below. NOTE - Multiple videos, scroll down for more.
Please be sure to share this newly-released information on social media to help counter the false narratives of what happened.
