An Antioch police officer has been placed on paid administrative leave following an incident captured on video during a homeless encampment cleanup. The footage, recorded on July 1, shows the officer and another struggling to restrain 41-year-old Ja’Marlette Hardy.
At one point in the video, Hardy appears to bite the officer’s shoulder. The officer then recoils and punches Hardy, knocking her hat off. Witnesses can be heard reacting to the punch, and the officer yells, “She bit me!”
Hardy told CBS News that she did bite the officer but stated it was in self-defense, believing excessive force was being used against her. She also accused the officer of attempting to break her wrist.
"And as he did that, I felt my shoulder pop. So I bit him. Yes, I did. I’m not going to deny it, but how I feel about it is, self-defense. You’re a big man. I’m a little woman,” Hardy said.
Antioch Police Chief Joe Vigil confirmed that the officer involved has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure during an internal investigation. Vigil stated that “any use of force by our officers is taken seriously.”
Police accounts differ from Hardy's description of the incident. According to the police, Hardy refused repeated orders to comply and interfered with officers performing their duties. Officers attempted to arrest her after she would not step back from cleanup crews and confronted city workers.
Hardy stated she was assisting an elderly homeless neighbor when the confrontation escalated. Those who know her from the encampment expressed concern over the officer's response. Marz Shelby commented, “Come help the people. Don’t attack the people,” adding, “Because right now, we’re literally living on the edge of the world. Like … nowhere else to go.” Shalonda Hill, another friend, questioned the force used, stating, “A girl bit you barely, barely. You couldn’t take it. So you decided you wanted to sock her like she was a man?”
Hardy reported lingering symptoms from the incident, including migraines and difficulty sleeping, and stated she has been experiencing hallucinations. A use-of-force expert, former officer Don Cameron, suggested the punch could be justified to prevent further biting. Cameron posited, “She bit him and … what’s saying, you know, now if I don’t stop her from biting that area, that she doesn’t go up and bite my face, or she doesn’t go down and bite my arm?”