A Utah Highway Patrol trooper is under investigation after a video showed him punching a woman several times during a traffic stop, a spokesman for the Utah Department of Public Safety said.
A dashboard camera captured footage of Sgt. Andrew Davenport punching 53-year-old Darla Wright in August.
Davenport is on paid administrative leave, said Brian Hyer, spokesman for the Utah Department of Public Safety.
Wright was speeding in Ogden when officers tried to pull her over, authorities said late Saturday. According to an incident report, the driver evaded police, and a chase ensued. Authorities stopped the woman by trapping her car between two vehicles.
"The suspect was still trying to escape, she had the accelerator floored and engine revving in an attempt to push our vehicles out of the way," Davenport wrote in an incident report.
Davenport said Wright would not roll down her window and gripped on the steering wheel.
On the video, Davenport is seen breaking the driver's side window, reaching into the car and repeatedly punching the woman.
"She refused to comply with commands to give us her hands," Davenport wrote. "Due to my close proximity to the suspect and my experience with Taser failure at such close distances, I delivered three close hand strikes to her head in an attempt to gain compliance with our commands. I did this to distract and stun her and to stop her from trying to drive off and strike our vehicles or possibly run us over. The strikes worked and we were able to grab her hands."
The driver was eventually taken into custody on suspicion of driving under the influence, eluding police, reckless driving, assault on a police officer and resisting arrest. Attempts to reach her were unsuccessful.
Hyer said investigations involve "multiple layers of reviews." It is unclear when the reviews might be completed.
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