DeKalb County police face investigation after viral video shows officer beating homeless woman

Police in Georgia have reopened an internal affairs investigation into a use of force complaint after a disturbing video emerged showing an officer beating a homeless woman inside a convenience store last month.

The Dekalb County Police Department on Tuesday announced it will be revisiting the June 4 incident after a local news station aired a bystander’s cellphone video depicting the officer striking 38-year-Katie McCrary at least 10 times with his metal baton.

In the video, a witness is heard urging the woman off camera, 'Katie, stop resisting, stop resisting, stop resisting,' as the cop delivers blow after blow.

McCrary could be seen at one point grabbing the nightstick as the officer pins her to the floor face down, with his knee pressed into her back.

He repeatedly shouts at the woman, 'let it go, or Imma shoot you.'

The officer restrains McCrary's hands behind her back as she repeatedly demands, 'What did I do? What did I do?'

The video ends with the cop leading the woman out of the gas station store in Decatur and escorting her to his patrol car parked outside.

The recording that sparked the reopening of the investigation this week begins with the beating already in progress, but according a police report, what prompted the use of force was McCrary's pushing the officer while he was questioning her about her panhandling.

Police said McCrary was sent to a hospital after her arrest suffering from a cut and a welt, and she was ultimately charged with obstructing law enforcement and was served a criminal trespass warning. 

In the immediate aftermath of the incident, the officer with the Dekalb County Police Department, who has not been identified, filed a Use of Force report and had been cleared by the initial internal affairs investigation.

The officer wrote in his report, dated June 5, that when he arrived at the Chevron gas station at Glenwood Road and Line Street, McCrary attempted to push him out of the way and walk out of the door, reported Atlanta Journal Constitution. The 38-year-old vagrant also allegedly told the cop she was a federal agent.

The two had some words, and at one point the woman allegedly reached for the officer's police badge. After being warned not to touch him, McCrary allegedly grabbed the officer's vest and radio, prompting him to deploy his baton.

'One strike inadvertently struck the side of her head as she was moving around,' the incident report stated.

The cellphone video showing the beating was posted on YouTube back on June 16, but the DeKalb County Police Department said it only became aware of it this week. As of Tuesday afternoon, it has been viewed more than 26,000 times.

DeKalb police spokeswoman Officer Shiera Campbell said in a statement the officer's narrative appears to be consistent with the video.  

‘Now that the Department has this new, we have reopened the investigation and will determine whether the incident is consistent with policy and the law,’ the agency said in a statement.

Meanwhile, CBS46 reported McCrary remains jailed on an unrelated prostitution charge.