Black Woman Claims Mobile Police Assaulted her

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Shuterra Holley, 19, said she was trying to get the attention of a Mobile police officer after a fight broke out at the Club Vivd in downtown Mobile. She claims the officer threw her to the sidewalk, chipping her front teeth and cutting open her lip.

At around 1 a.m. Friday morning, a man threw a punch inside the club and struck Holley's cousin, Synia Smith. Security escorted some people outside, including the two girls. Holley tried to get the attention of a police officer. She said she tried to tell the officer who the violent man was, but she did not get the reaction she was looking for.

"He came to me and said, 'I'm tired of you.' And he just grabbed me by my hair and threw me on the ground and slammed my face to the ground. My teeth came out of my mouth. It was busted up and everything," said Holley. She was not arrested or charged, but she was rushed sraight to the hospital.

Holley's two front teeth were chipped and her lip was badly damaged. She said she spent hours in the hospital for treatment and spent hundreds of dollars on medical bills.

"My teeth still hurt. I can't talk right. I still can't talk right, I can't eat nothing, I can't bite down because they're not the same length or nothing," said Holley.

"He had no business doing that because why was she able to get up on her own and walk towards us and ask us, 'Is her mouth bleeding?'" said Smith.

Holley feels the officer probably misunderstood the situation, but she feels what happened was unfair.

"I just want justice. I want them to pay for my bills. I had to pay for my medical bills and all that. I just want justice,” Holley said.

Holley said she filed a report with Mobile Police Department Internal Affairs, and an officer came and spoke to her.

A department spokesman said that once a complaint is filed, it is considered "under investigation."