Body cam released after woman dies when she fell out of a moving police car in Georgia
By: The Georgia Bureau of Investigation on Friday released bodycam video related to the death of a Georgia woman who fell from a moving patrol car during her arrest earlier this month.
Brianna Grier, 28, suffered significant injuries July 15 and died July 21 at an Atlanta hospital. Grier was arrested after Hancock County sheriff’s deputies were called to a home in Sparta, the GBI has said. The deputies put Grier in the back of a patrol car, but she was not wearing a seatbelt, her hands were cuffed in front of her and the rear passenger-side door was never closed, according to GBI investigators.
The GBI announced this week that the deputies who put Grier in the back of the patrol car failed to close the rear passenger-side door before driving away.
The GBI has not said why deputies were called to the home or why Grier was arrested. Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing her family, said Grier was taken into custody after a mental health crisis.
In the video, deputies can be seen responding to a visibly distraught and erratic Grier. A brief struggle ensues where deputies can be seen carrying Grier, who is in handcuffs, by all fours. In the video, Grier can be heard telling deputies that she is not drunk and asks them to breathalyzer her several times. Grier can also be heard threatening her own life.
"I bet you I hang myself as soon as I get in there," she says. "There's more than one way to kill yourself."
Later in the video, deputies can be seen placing Grier in the patrol car. Less than a minute into the drive, the deputy operating the car Grier was placed in can be seen stopping the car, getting out and walking a few yards back up the road to where Grier can be seen on the ground.
At one point, a deputy can be seen tapping Grier several times saying, "Brianna, Brianna," in what appears to be an attempt to get her to respond. When she fails to respond, the deputy can be heard calling for medical assistance. A second deputy appears from another car who shifts Grier over from her stomach to her back and begins administering aide.
"Take the cuffs off. Sit up Briana. You all right. Here you go," the second deputy can be heard saying.
About a minute later, the deputies can be heard questioning how Grier got the back door open.
"How'd she jump out the car, it's not supposed to unlock from the back," a deputy can be heard saying.
Near the end of the video, Grier is laying on her back visibly unconscious but still breathing.
The video does not show Grier falling out of the car.
The GBI's release of the video comes after Grier's family held a press conference demanding answers in her death.
The GBI has said agents have done interviews, reviewed multiple body camera videos and done mechanical tests on the patrol car. The investigation is ongoing.