Best views, weather, etc. How to test them 👓 SC, Ala. sites look back Betty Ford honored
NEWS
Mental Health

Calif. woman punched in video arrested again

Melanie Eversley
USA TODAY
This Aug. 10, 2014, file photo shows Marlene Pinnock during an interview in Los Angeles.

A black homeless woman who was filmed being punched by a California Highway Patrol officer last year in a video that was the cornerstone of a legal case has been arrested again, according to the police agency.

Marlene Pinnock was arrested Tuesday and taken to the Los Angeles County Medical Center for psychiatric evaluation, Sgt. Jose Nunez, a public information officer based in Los Angeles County for the highway patrol, said late Tuesday night.

Shortly before 2:30 a.m. PT on Tuesday, authorities spotted Pinnock walking on the right shoulder of the busy I-10 highway and the California Highway Patrol picked her up and took her to Los Angeles Medical Center for mental health evaluation, Nunez said.

The officers were concerned because it is unlawful to be on the shoulder of the highway and they were not able to spot a disabled vehicle near Pinnock, Nunez said.

"They made verbal contact with her and she quickly became verbally uncooperative, didn't want to respond to what they told her," Nunez said. "As they neared her, it escalated so they needed to take physical control of her."

Pinnock was placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold, according to NBC Los Angeles.

Pinnock settled a lawsuit for $1.5 million in relation to a July 1, 2014, arrest in which a passing motorist videotaped her being punched by an officer of the California Highway Patrol as she wandered along the side of the Santa Monica Freeway.

Lawyer: No drugs, booze in woman beaten by officer

Featured Weekly Ad