Investigation underway after arrest turns violent, incident captured on Facebook Live

The Berrien County Sheriff's Department is investigating after a Facebook Live video showed a physical altercation between a deputy and a woman who resisted arrest.

The incident happened Tuesday afternoon on Michigan Street.

The department is looking into the incident.

Witnesses said the woman had been pulled over on Michigan Street in Niles. They said the woman had been in the back of the car for half an hour to 45 minutes. The officer let the woman out of the car to smoke a cigarette before things took a violent turn.

“It’s really quite frightening and really alarming because you don’t expect nothing like that to happen that close to home in such a peaceful neighborhood," said a neighbor who did not want to be identified.

Another neighbor who did not want their identity revealed, said the incident hit too close to home.

“I got kids, everybody’s got kids. All lives matter, you know, whether they’re Black, white, pink, blue, brown, that just shouldn’t be happening. Especially this close to home," the resident said. “You know, what do you tell your kids when they actually witness something like that?”

Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey said the woman who was arrested was resisting arrest and is now in custody.

The sheriff's department won't release any further details while they investigate what happened.


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