Bay Area police chase ends with officer punching alleged thief in head
Attorney General Rob Bonta calls attempt to subdue suspect ‘disturbing’
A suspect allegedly crashed into a cement truck and a car carrying two small children while fleeing Vallejo authorities on Friday, before being punched in the head by her arresting officer.
According to police, Maiya Green, 19, was resisting arrest and attempting to flee when the officer struck her. In an unrelated press conference Monday, Attorney General Rob Bonta called a video of the incident “disturbing” and “concerning.”
Green was arrested just days before the incident for allegedly stealing $44,000 in merchandise from a Sunglass Hut in that city on October 4, according to a press release from the city of San Luis Obispo.
Staff at a business on the 1100 block of Admiral Callaghan Lane flagged down a Vallejo officer Friday, claiming two people had just stolen over $1,000 in merchandise, according to a social media post from the Vallejo Police Department. The suspects, according to an employee, were in a blue Nissan Altima that was leaving the business’s parking lot at the time.
The officer attempted to pull the car over, but Green allegedly refused to stop, instead running a red light and colliding with two other vehicles in a “short pursuit,” according to police.
A woman in an SUV “sustained moderate injuries” after the suspects allegedly collided with her, but her two 4-year-old sons were unharmed. The cement truck driver was unharmed.
When the fleeing vehicle came to a halt, an alleged passenger fled on foot before the responding officer could apprehend them. After that, the officer opened the driver’s side door.
A TikTok video of the incident, which had 787,000 views as of Tuesday and received coverage from numerous regional and national outlets, shows the officer reaching into the car and pulling Green out by the hand.
The officer slams the woman against the cement truck she appears to have just crashed into as she pulls away from him. She runs away from the cement truck, but the officer catches her and throws her to the ground.
The officer then punches her in the face.
As the officer handcuffs and drags Green to her feet, she can be heard screaming.
“The officer attempted to pin the suspect against the cement truck, but she resisted and tried to flee the scene,” the Vallejo Police Department wrote. “The officer used a control hold takedown to keep her from fleeing. Once on the ground, the suspect actively resisted, pivoting her body and gauging the officer’s arm in an attempt to flee, prompting him to strike her once to gain immediate compliance.”
Sgt. Rashad Hollis, a VPD spokesperson, said Tuesday that he was unable to release the officer’s name.
As of Monday, Attorney General Bonta stated that the investigation into this incident was “just getting started.”
“That incident will have its own path to accountability.” “There will be an opportunity for investigation, review, oversight, and, if necessary, legal accountability,” he said.
Green, according to police, is a multiple-time offender. In addition to her arrest in Southern California, she was wanted in Napa on a $50,000 warrant for reported grand theft and a $10,000 warrant for a San Mateo burglary.
The Vallejo store also provided evidence that Green and her accomplice stole another $1,000 worth of merchandise on September 26, according to authorities.
Green and an alleged accomplice were charged with felony grand theft and felony organized retail theft by San Luis Obispo authorities.
The state denied Vallejo funds to combat organized retail theft last month because the city had allocated too much money to an evaluator who would have overseen a planned project.
