Police in the US state of Colorado are under fire after one officer was filmed slamming a 22-year-old female student to the ground.
Michaella Surat was outside the Bondi Beach Bar in Fort Collins on Thursday when her boyfriend allegedly got involved in a fight.
The student tried to pull her boyfriend away before police arrived, the Coloradoan reports.
When police told her to go, she refused and allegedly “assaulted” one of the officers amid the scuffle.
The nine seconds of footage shows the police officer holding the young woman’s forearms before she as flipped and body slammed, almost head first, to the ground.
The Fort Collins Police Department said it was standard procedure for someone assaulting an officer.
“The officers told her that her boyfriend was not free to leave but that she could go,” said the department’s spokeswoman Kate Kimble.
“She remained at the scene, at which time she physically obstructed and struck an officer.”
After the video was shared on social media, many viewers were shocked to see the policeman being so forceful on a woman much smaller than him.
Police officer bodycam will be reviewed as part of the investigation, with the young woman charged with third degree assault and obstructing an officer.
Ms Surat was released on bond and set to appear in court later this week.
