A Portland, Ore. cop drove a motorcycle into a protester who blocked his way — and the injured woman was then charged with jumping on his bike, according to police and reports.
Video from ongoing protests in the City of Roses showed protesters swarming the officer as he pulled over two cars late Friday — both of which sped off during the confrontation.
“You need to go, cop!” one protester shouted — as the officer repeatedly barked “back up!” at the mob who the force said “swarmed” the officer.
Portland police said the officer only got on his motorbike “due to the extreme danger of a hostile crowd” as some “began throwing unknown objects at him.”
“During the maneuver, a woman jumped on the front of the motorcycle and was pushed aside,” the department said in a statement, adding, “The officer was uninjured.”
Video from the confrontation, however, shows the officer driving into the woman as she stood in front of him — pushing her several feet as he drove into her before she fell, videographer Sean Bascom told the Oregonian of the footage he shot.
“No one ‘jumped on the motorcycle,’ ” Bascom told the paper. “The protesters planted their feet in front of it and were driven into.”
The incident sparked a violent confrontation between back-up police in riot gear and protesters, with many shouting, “You guys ran her over!”
The injured woman — identified by cops as Tealeanna Lindseth, 22 — refused medical help, and the officers “disengaged” from the clash, Portland cops said in a release. But she was arrested when she returned to the protests “less than an hour later,” the force said.
Lindseth was taken to a hospital for evaluation — where others then slashed the tires of the police van transporting her, police said, sharing images of some of the damage.
After her discharge from the hospital, Lindseth was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of riot — a felony — as well as two counts of second-degree disorderly conduct and two counts of interfering with a peace officer.
She was released hours later after no bail was set, records show. Three others were also arrested during the confrontations, police said.
*story by The New York Post