Arizona officer suspended after video shows he punched woman during arrest

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz., Nov. 17 (UPI) -- An Arizona police officer has been suspended from his job pending an investigation after video surfaced online that showed him punching a woman in the face during an arrest.

On the video, which was posted to Facebook, Sgt. Jeff Bonar is seen trying to arrest an "uncooperative" woman -- later identified as Marissa Morris -- while she disputes the validity of a warrant the officer was trying to serve.

At one point in the video footage, the woman tells Bonar, "you cannot arrest me until I know I have a warrant." He responds by punching her in the face.

ABC 15 in Phoenix reported that, as it turned out, the warrant was no longer active.

"Our agency is very concerned by what is depicted in this video. We are immediately initiating an internal investigation into this incident," the police department said in a statement Thursday.

The Flagstaff Police Department said Bonar, who has been on the Flagstaff force for nearly three years, has been placed on paid administrative leave -- which is standard protocol -- pending the results of an internal investigation.

The incident occurred Wednesday evening.

"The department is taking this incident very serious," Flagstaff Police Chief Kevin Treadway added.

In his police report, Bonar claimed that Morris struck him in the groin before he hit her.

"Marissa appeared to be intoxicated on a stimulant drug and exerted an impressive amount of strength for a women her size. Marissa continued struggling and stuck me with her knee on my groin and legs several times," he wrote in the incident report.

(Warning: Video contains graphic content/language)

Morris, 30, told ABC 15 in Phoenix that claim is untrue, and added that Bonar had grabbed her neck before the video began recording -- a claim Bonar himself corroborated in his report.

"I grabbed Marissa`s neck applying little to no pressure and pushed her away from myself creating space," he wrote, saying he punched her at that point.

"Marissa continued wrestling her hands away from us so I struck her in the face with a closed right fist several times as distraction blows, with very minimal force," he wrote.

Morris was booked on charges of aggravated assault and resisting arrest, due to the scuffle. She was released from custody Thursday but has a court hearing Dec. 6.

"He came after me, pretty much tackled me to the ground, and told me I was under arrest for a warrant that I did not have," Morris told ABC 15 Thursday. "Those warrants were done, and over with, I had done what I needed to do to take care of those. I just got off the phone with pretrial services 20 minutes prior to this happening."

"Why me, what did I do to deserve something like this?" she added. "I am not a bad person.

"It is disturbing, I see [the punch] every time I move my arms or look at my face, or feel my face."

"We owe Marissa, the family, and the entire Flagstaff community, the officer and the department, a full and complete investigation," Tredway said. "In the spirit of transparency, we are creating a standalone page, attach to our Facebook, where the original video, and additional video, reports, media reports, and applicable policies will be posted."

The web page displays four different videos related to the incident -- the bystander's and three police footage sources.