ROSWELL, Ga. — Roswell’s police chief is promising a thorough investigation into a traffic stop that ended with a woman’s jaw broken.
Chief Rusty Grant exclusively told Channel 2’s Mike Petchenik that officers had probable cause to pull Shanita Maeberry, 24, and a friend over on Alpharetta Highway Nov. 11.
“The officer had his window down, the other vehicle had their window down and he saw a person who appeared to be smoking either a cigar or a blunt,” Grant told Petchenik. “Because of the open window, he smelled what he believed to be marijuana.”
Roswell police released dash- and body-camera video that shows police questioning Maeberry outside a gas station.
“There was some marijuana found inside the purse inside the vehicle,” he said. “At some point the decision was made to arrest Ms. Maeberry. During the execution of a lawful arrest, she became somewhat physical.”
Video shows Maeberry appear to resist arrest, and Detective James Van Alstine attempts to subdue her.
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Grant said the camera angle isn’t clear enough to know exactly what happened, but he said witnesses said Maeberry punched Van Alstine in the face, and he punched her back.
“It was unfortunate that during that struggle where she actually hit the officer, the officer struck her,” Grant said. “It’s described to me he struck her in the face in a stunning move so he could take her to the ground.”
Grant said Maeberry complained about pain in her mouth, and doctors later determined she had a broken jaw.
“The officer never intended to fracture her jaw,” he said. “He wanted to stun her to take her…to the ground so he could put her in handcuffs and complete the arrest.”
On Monday night, Maeberry and members of Atlanta’s Black Lives Matter movement protested outside Roswell City Hall.
In a Facebook post, Maeberry disputes the police account:
"Roswell police department released a video to the media of my arrest. The story line is bogus, they trying to make it seem like I'm a menace to society, the media shows you, what they want you to see. They saying big drug bust, where the ounces or pounds. They say I was fighting police, where did arm, or fist ever rise in the video, the problem is in the video they don't show him pulling his fist back using all his strength to break both sides of my jaws, knocking my teeth out. Let's see the real video, where them body cameras at chief. I wanna tell my story, but I can't talk."
Grant told Petchenik he, the officer and the department regret what happened to Maeberry, but he said his initial review of the videos leads him to believe the veteran officer’s actions were justifiable.
“When a person resists arrest, the probability or likelihood that someone gets injured, whether it’s an officer or the suspect, increases,” he said. “Because of the seriousness of the injury we are taking a look at the use of force to make sure it is justifiable.”
Grant said Detective Van Alstine is still on the job during the investigation.
“What I told the family is I want to have a thorough investigation as opposed to a quick investigation,” he said. “We want to make sure we’re doing things right.”
Grant said the department will use the situation as an opportunity to improve.
“It may be a situation where we were legally, lawfully we were correct and by policy we were correct, but is it something we can handle better?” he said.
Cox Media Group
