New body cam footage shows a Louisville police officer citing a pregnant woman and issuing her a citation despite pleading with him that she is going into labor and would like to be left alone.
Louisville Public Media (LPM) reported that Louisville Police Lt. Caleb Stewart issued the woman a citation for illegal street camping, which requires a court appearance in and a possible fine.
The woman — who asked LPM not to report her name — gave birth later that day at a nearby hospital, her public defender told LPM.
A spokesperson for the Louisville Police Department told PEOPLE “we support” officers “using discretion” while on the job.
“We also understand everyone may not agree with those decisions, but we are committed to being transparent in communicating and explaining processes and policy to the community,” the spokesperson said.
Ryan Dischinger, a public defender assigned to the woman’s legal case, told LPM that the woman and her newborn son are healthy and currently living in a shelter — without assistance from the police department, who took credit for the woman’s safety when reached by PEOPLE for comment this week.
“Without the officer’s intervention and call for EMS, it is possible the baby would have been born without medical care,” the department claimed. The police spokesperson did not respond to PEOPLE’s questions about whether Lt. Stewart faced any disciplinary action.
Body cam video shows Lt. Stewart return to his car after telling the woman he was issuing her a citation. Once in the vehicle, he self-narrates what just took place, accusing the woman of making up an “outlandish story” about being in labor.
“So, I don’t believe for a second that this woman is going into labor,” Lt. Stewart says. “But I’ve called EMS, asked for a code 3, just in case I’m wrong.”
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The footage released by the department shows the woman telling Lt. Stewart she’s “leaking” and is going into labor multiple times.
“Y’all are evil people,” the woman later tells Lt. Stewart, as he raises his voice at her while she begins to walk away from him carrying a blanket.
“You don’t have to holler and you don’t have to push me,” the woman says, explaining she wants to go find her husband who just went to call her an ambulance before police arrived.
Meanwhile, an orange city dump truck can be seen on camera removing the mattress the woman was resting on when police first showed up.
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“Y’all are horrible,” the woman tells Lt. Stewart and the other officers surrounding her. “I’m glad y’all got this job to f— with the homeless and not help society.”
The citation stems from a new Kentucky state law that bans people from street camping, according to LPM. The Safer Kentucky Act makes camping on the street a misdemeanor violation and could result in a fine.
Dischinger, who did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Friday, told LPM that “the reality for her, and for anyone who’s homeless in Kentucky, is that they’re constantly and unavoidably breaking this law.”
“What she needed was help and compassion and instead she was met with violence,” the public defender said.
Read the original article on People
