Fort Wayne police released videos of a traffic stop that ended in an altercation between a black woman and two white police officers.
Tyjana Smith, 29, was stopped shortly after 3:30 a.m. Monday in the area of Abbott and Manford streets in the Pontiac Place neighborhood.
A video of the incident captured by a bystander went viral earlier this week. It shows two male police officers struggling with Smith on the ground. One of the officers appears to punch her in the head as she thrashes around on the ground.
The first officer to respond to the incident was Mason Wills, who was recently blamed for the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Linzell Pahrm during a traffic stop in June. In police body camera footage of that shooting, Parhm appears frightened and can be seen trying to keep his hands on the dashboard against Wills’ instructions. He reaches down to where an AK pistol lies on the floor of the car.
Fort Wayne Mayor Sharon Tucker issued a statement along with the release of Monday’s footage, saying the decision to release the footage was another example of her commitment to transparency.
“An internal investigation as well as an investigation by the Allen County District Attorney’s Office are currently underway into this matter. While we continue to investigate, the officers involved in the incident have been reassigned,” the statement said.
In the video, Smith refuses to show herself to the police officers and refuses to get out of her car. When the two officers try to pull her out, she fights back. Wills throws her wig to the side and as they struggle, she slips on it and the three of them land on the asphalt.
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Fort Wayne Police Department
In the dashcam footage, Wills can be seen throwing a punch to her head. In the video from a bystander, the punch appears to land on her face. In the audio recordings from both bodycams, he says she kicked him.
Smith is charged with resisting police with assault, assault on a public safety officer and two misdemeanors, including failure to identify himself and driving while license suspended.
On Thursday, Smith appeared in Allen Superior Court on those charges and also pleaded guilty to a similar charge of driving while suspended in January. She has been charged with that offense nearly half a dozen times over the past seven years.
According to Wills’ service record, he has been disciplined three times in the past six years. He was involved in two accidents involving a police vehicle, both of which resulted in a reprimand. One of those was in 2018 and the other in 2021. In 2019, Wills was suspended for “failing to properly and thoroughly search a person in custody.”
Wills has also received three letters of commendation coming in 2022 and two last year. Wills also received an award for excellence last year.
