BOCA RATON, Fla. — A pregnant mother of four from Delray Beach who is calling for the firing of a Boca Raton police officer who threw her to the ground before arresting her has been joined by a representative of the National Action Network in asking for a full investigation.
Outside the Boca Raton Police Department on Monday, Nerillia Laurent, her boyfriend Harry Hardy, members of her family, and Bryce Graham talked to media.
“We want them to hold this cop responsible for his bad behavior on that day, because nothing bad happened until he got there. “We want to make it clear that no officer in this county or city will be allowed to act in this way,” said Graham.
“But honestly, I want him fired. So, I think he shouldn’t be a cop anymore,” Laurent said.
Police in Boca Raton are looking into the incident, which happened two weeks ago when a witness called to report a fight between the two people at a Mobil gas station, where Hardy was pounding on the car and a small child was running around and might be in danger.
Police say Laurent constantly refused to give them her driver’s license, even after they told her she would be arrested. That’s when Officer McNichol, whose first name was not given, pulled her out of the car and handcuffed her.
Terri Parker, who is an investigator for WPBF 25 News, asked Laurent why she didn’t show her ID.
“Since I didn’t have to. I didn’t feel like I needed to. And he was very rude, aggressive, and not at all nice,” Laurent said, adding that she had done nothing wrong.
Police said that Laurent had a warrant out for her arrest for a number of reasons, including not showing up to court and giving a police officer a fake name when she was arrested.
Laurent was charged with not getting violent with a police officer.
Hardy was charged with hitting a police officer because he walked up to them, didn’t stop when they put their hands on his chest, and then ran away.
The police chief said that an internal affairs investigation has been started to look into the officer’s actions. Based on the results of that investigation, the situation will be looked into fully and dealt with in the right way.
Laurent said she may file a civil lawsuit.
