Body camera footage shows the shocking moment a police officer laughed as she mocked a mentally ill 70-year-old who locked herself in the bathroom during a manic episode.
The recently shared video, excised from 90 minutes of body camera footage released by the Tulsa Police Department last year, allegedly shows police officer Ronni Carrocia banging on a bathroom door while laughing and telling one of her co-workers, “This is going to be funny be.’
An emergency services worker told officers when they arrived at the scene of the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Tulsa, Oklahoma on October 25, 2021 that the victim, LaDonna June Paris, 70, was bipolar and had a manic episode and had herself locked in bathroom according to video.
The EMS worker says to Carrocia: “We couldn’t force her to do anything, so we asked you for help and then she just ran away.”
But when officers arrived at the scene at the restroom, Carrocia can be seen tasering the woman as she asks, “Do you want to be felt?” to which Paris is heard saying, “Don’t do it. Why are you doing this?’
Paris can also be heard begging Carrocia and saying, “Get away from me, get away, get away,” after rattling the door. In response, Carrocia laughs and says to one of her co-workers, “I love my job.”
Soon you can hear Paris saying, “The cops are trying to kill me here.”
However, the Tulsa Police Department said in a statement that officers at the scene that day acted within department guidelines — although they noted their communications with one another “could be perceived as unprofessional.”
Ronni Carrocia, a Tulsa police officer, was caught on body cam banging on a bathroom door at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore to get a bipolar woman to come out while she was laughing
Carrocia was heard saying to one of her colleagues, “I love my job,” and said she hoped a designated officer would come so he could pepper spray the woman
Paris was eventually taken into custody and charged with attempted arson, assault and assault on a police officer, resisting a police officer, trespassing and cruelty to animals. Those charges were eventually dropped by a judge citing her mental health
A paramedic had told officers at the scene that the woman, 70-year-old LaDonna Paris, was bipolar and having a manic episode
As Carrocia and another officer wait for a third officer to come in to break down the door, Carrocia is heard saying she hopes it’s a certain officer, “because I really like the way he works.
“He’s going to break open the door and spray them,” Carrocia says, apparently referring to pepper spray.
Finally, the third officer arrives and breaks down the door, revealing officers throwing Paris to the ground.
As they get her to stand up, a wound is visible on the side of her face and the cops realize they had to clean the blood off the floor.
The video ends after Paris is taken into custody when a police officer – believed to be Carrocia – says, “If you play stupid games, you’ll win stupid prizes.
“I’m just – I’m over it.”
A third officer eventually arrived at the scene to force open the bathroom door
Officers immediately pushed Paris to the ground, and blood poured from her face
The Tulsa Police Department has now issued a statement saying the officers’ general actions and the way they handled the call were within department guidelines, although they noted: “To be clear , the banter between officers outside the presence of the suspect can be [perceived] as unprofessional and was approached with the officers.’
Police said in the two-page statement that officers were called to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore by an employee who said Paris had been there for hours and left a dog in her U-Haul truck.
The department had hoped its Community Response Team, which includes mental health specialists, would respond to the call, they said, but no members of the team were available at the time.
Officers then spent 15 minutes talking to Paris at the door to get her to come out, the statement said, and when she refused: “The officer continued to try to use verbal pressure and shake the door.” ‘to get Paris to comply with the lawful order to come out.’
Police say Paris then asked to speak to the manager of the ReStore, whom officers reached on the phone to ask them to leave the bathroom, but Paris refused to believe it was actually the manager, and “released it”.
Officers later reportedly noticed “that Paris had sprayed an aerosol can and had a lighter,” after which they secured a fire extinguisher and began formulating a plan to get another officer to the scene.
In another attempt to get Paris to unlock the door, police claimed that Carrocia “activated her taser to create an arcing sound in the hope that this acoustic stimulus would prompt Paris to open the door.”
After about half an hour, police said, the 3rd officer arrived at the scene and broke down the bathroom door.
“While the use of OC spray was discussed, officers elected not to use it and instead attempted to control Paris’ hands,” the Tulsa Police Department statement said, noting, “Paris has itself sustained a minor facial injury when officers took her into custody on the bathroom floor.’
Still, police said, she continued to resist arrest and kicked one of the officers as she was being taken to the Tulsa County jail.
The Tulsa Police Department has now released a two-page statement explaining what happened on October 25 and stating that officers handled the situation in accordance with department guidelines
Paris was eventually charged on Oct. 28 with attempted arson, assault and assault on a police officer, resisting a police officer, trespassing and cruelty to animals.
She was held in the Tulsa County jail for about a month before the case was dropped on Nov. 23 “in the interests of justice and civil diversion,” Tulsa World reported.
The judge cited Paris Mental Health in dismissing the charges, and now a law firm has taken up their apparent case of police brutality.
Solomon-Simmons Law was hired to represent Ms. LaDonna Paris, a 70-year-old black great-grandmother and seminary student who was taunted, harassed and angered by Tulsa Police Department officers before brutally treating her while arresting her for behavioral manifestations of a mental disorder in October 2021,” the law firm said in a statement to KFOR.
“The TPD officers involved were fully aware that Ms. Paris was experiencing a bipolar manic episode, yet they provoked and viciously attacked Ms. Paris and laughed at her disability as if it were a joke,” the attorneys continued.
“We are disgusted by this outrageous behavior captured on video and the fact that the Tulsa Police Department attempted to place the blame for the incident on the victim of a mental health episode and police brutality.
“We are even more disturbed by the Tulsa Police Department’s frequent practice of ignoring and even outright condoning the discriminatory treatment and humiliation of violence against people with mental disorders, particularly African Americans, by its officers.”
They said they plan to hold a press conference so Paris can tell their side of the story and “look forward to doing whatever we can to thank the officers involved in the attack and the Tulsa Police Department for their shameful and unlawful.” to hold discrimination accountable to take action and seek justice for Ms Paris.’