Video shows nurse being thrown to the ground

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News obtained exclusive video of a nurse being thrown to the ground, handcuffed and arrested. She said she was just doing her job.

Channel 2's Craig Lucie obtained the video and the federal lawsuit filed against four Lawrenceville police officers.

The lawsuit said Marthe Bien-Aime's Fourth Amendment rights were violated and excessive force was used at the SummitRidge Hospital off Scenic Highway in Lawrenceville.

It was almost 2 a.m. when five Lawrenceville police officers went to the hospital and tried to arrest a patient who was suspected of sexually assaulting another patient.

"They were there to do a job, and I was there to do a job," Bien-Aime told Lucie.

Bien-Aime said she told the officers she had to call her supervisor first before letting them in a secure area. Minutes later, she handed one officer the phone with her supervisor on the line.

"When she got on the phone all she said was 'we fixing to bust one of your nurses,'" Bien-Aime said.

In the video, an officer is seen reaching over the door, unlocking it and running toward her. The other officers follow suit and in seconds, they threw her to the ground and she was handcuffed. Then, two officers dragged her out of the nurse station and one of the officers hit her on the back.

"There was a complete overreaction by the police," said Bien-Aime's attorney Craig Jones of The Federal Firm.

Jones filed a federal lawsuit Monday against the four Lawrenceville police officers seen in the video on behalf of Marthe Bien-Aime.

"She has a Fourth Amendment right to not have excessive force used against her and they used excessive force," Jones said.

Lawrenceville police told Lucie they cannot comment on pending litigation, but they did send him the incident report from Oct. 31, 2011.

The report said when officers asked to see the accused patient's room she told them "Oh no, this is not happening while she was in charge."

The report also said she ran to the nurse station door and locked it.

Bien-Aime is facing a felony charge of obstructing a police officer.

Since the federal lawsuit was just filed this week, it may not see a jury trial for at least a year.

WSBTV