Video Shows Police Arresting Pregnant Woman Who Refused to Identify Herself

The ACLU of Southern California released a video on May 22 of police in Barstow, California, arresting a pregnant woman, saying she did not identify herself. The video was part of a press release about the organization reaching a settlement with police about not arresting individuals for not identifying themselves.

In the video, police arrive at an elementary school on a call from a woman who accuses another woman of driving recklessly in the parking lot. After interviewing the first woman, officers tell her no crime had been committed because her car was not damaged. While speaking to the second woman, police ask her name and she refuses to give it. That’s when police move to arrest her, and she tells them several times not to touch her, and that she is pregnant.

The ACLU said in a press release that Charlena Michelle Cooks was eight months pregnant at the time of the January arrest and had just dropped her daughter off at school. She was charged with resisting arrest, but the charges were later dropped.

In the press release, the ACLU states that someone in California may still be arrested if they refuse to identify themselves to police, but it would be a wrongful arrest. State law allows people to refuse to identify themselves without being arrested, according to the ACLU.

The press release states the ACLU and the Barstow police have reached an agreement to train officers that people who don’t ID themselves are not necessarily committing crimes. Credit: YouTube/ACLU of Southern California