Charges were dropped against the woman who was hit by a police officer on Sunday. And now Aida Guzman wants an apology.
"I think we all can agree that if this wasn't on video, that my client wouldn't even have an opportunity to defend herself," Guzman's attorney, Enrique Latoison, said on Wednesday afternoon, after showing NBC10 pictures of Guzman's busted lip and bruised elbow.
The incident was caught on video. It happened after the Puerto Rican Parade when people gathered in another part of town. Police surrounding a car during a traffic stop in the middle of the festivities. Guzman was among the crowd.
On the original video, you see Guzman doing something near the officer. She admitted later that she was spraying silly string and NBC10 obtained new, exclusive video on Wednesday that shows Guzman spraying into the crowd. The commanding officer on the scene, Lt. Jonathan Josey, turns around and hits her.
Guzman falls to the ground, is handcuffed and then led away, lip bleeding, by other officers. Guzman was initially charged with disorderly conduct.
Philadelphia Commissioner Charles Ramsey said he thought dropping the charges was appropriate.
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"In looking at the video and then looking at the charges, clearly there were some discrepancies there. So I'm not at all surprised. In fact, I'm rather pleased that they did decide to drop the charges."
Josey is on desk duty, while internal affairs investigates the incident. He's a 19-year veteran of the department and has had a distinguished career.
