An incident involving the use of force by a Berrien County Sheriff’s deputy is being investigated by the department. The incident occurred in Niles on Tuesday, when a woman broadcast over Facebook a confrontation involving the deputy and another woman. The video shows the deputy has the woman on the ground while she yells for help.
The deputy tells the woman to stop fighting as witnesses gather around. Eventually, the woman was handcuffed. Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey said in a statement Wednesday the 39-year-old Niles area woman had been stopped for a traffic violation when she provided false information about her identify. She was at first placed, without handcuffs, in the rear of the deputy’s patrol vehicle. When the deputy determined she wasn’t going to give her real name, he tried to handcuff her and she resisted. The woman was later taken to a hospital to be treated for minor injuries, and then taken to the Berrien County Jail on charges of resisting and obstructing, possession of meth, driving on a suspended license, and having an open container. Bailey says an investigation is underway that will include a review of videos and other evidence. The Facebook video of the incident in question, posted by Yolanda Robinson-Grant, had more than 30,000 views as of Wednesday afternoon.
