Warning: some readers may find details disturbing. Discretion is advised.
London police Chief Steve Williams has ordered a review of an interaction between a London woman and police officers after a video of the woman describing her experience spread online.
In a post on Twitter, Williams says he has ordered a review of the incident and is asking people to “hold off on forming any conclusions until the review is complete.”
Earlier this week, a London woman posted a video on TikTok alleging a violent interaction with police officers outside a south London Walmart.
The video has been viewed and shared online and by Black Lives Matter London on its Instagram.
In the viral TikTok video, Sarah Soyemi, 36, says she was punched and tackled to the ground for selling tea outside of the Walmart at White Oaks Mall.
In the video, she is seen with her eye bruised and swollen shut and says the video was recorded on May 13, but the interaction happened on May 10.
“The security from Walmart came, they called the police on me, and the police lady came. When she came, she just came out of the car, she charged at me, she tried to grab my shirt, and I thought, ‘Do not touch me,'” she says.
“She grabbed on my shirt. I pulled on her hair because I believe in self-defence. I didn’t do anything wrong.
“I grabbed on her hair, you know, when I did that, both of us were on the ground. I told her to get off of me. She did not get off of me. She and I held onto her hair because she did not get off of me.
Soyemi says during the altercation, two other officers pinned her down and asked her to let go of the officer’s hair before one of them punched her.
She was then arrested and held for three hours before being released on a promise to appear. She said despite asking, she did not receive medical attention for her eye.
Global News has reached out to Soyemi for comment.
In a statement from London police on Thursday, they said they were aware of the video shared online.
“While we disagree with some of the particulars of how this interaction has been described, the LPS takes all allegations of this nature very seriously, and as such, the Chief has directed that a review of this incident be conducted. We will be contacting the individual involved to provide the necessary information to file a complaint with the Office of the Independent Police Review Director,” the statement from the police read.
In a media release on May 11, police say officers responded to a shopping centre at 1105 Wellington Rd. on May 10 after a woman previously banned from the property refused to leave.
Police say an officer approached the suspect, but the woman refused to leave when directed.
When the officer advised the woman that she was under arrest for trespassing, she resisted arrest and became combative with police and assaulted an office while resisting arrest, police say.
Police say both the office and suspect sustained minor injuries.
Soyemi is charged with failing to leave a premises when directed, resisting arrest and assaulting a peace officer.
— with files from Global News’ Amy Simon