BISCAYNE PARK (WSVN) — The Village of Biscayne Park is investigating after one of their police officers repeatedly struck a woman suffering from schizophrenia after she grabbed him by his private parts, according to a police report.
Shawna Yuen appeared in bond court on Thursday, charged with battery on a police officer. The 30-year-old, who stands 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 110 pounds, had a swollen eye in court.
The Village of Biscayne Park is now investigating what happened to her.
“I think it’s not right,” Yuen’s mother, Mary Yuen, said, “because I told them that she is mentally unstable, that she’s bipolar. She needs help. She doesn’t need to go to [Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center], where they have her. She should be in a mental institution and get help there.”
Mary said police responded to their home, last Thursday, after she and her daughter had a fight.
“She got into a fight with me and threw something, and it hit me on the forehead,” Mary said.
According to a Biscayne Park Police report, the male officer arrived alone. Shawna ran from the home, and at that point, the mother told the officer, “Her daughter suffered from schizophrenia and sometimes refuses to take her medication,” the police report said.
At that point, backup was called to the scene.
The officer was able to catch up with Shawna, who they found hiding in a tool shed.
At that point, she “Grabbed [the officer] by the testicles,” and the officer, “struck the defendant several times in the face area,” according to the police report.
“It broke my heart really bad,” Mary said. “Why did they have to beat up on a 100-pound girl? She’s only 100 pounds. Why did they have to beat her up like that?”
Mary said she’s not defending her daughter’s actions, but she noted that her daughter doesn’t belong in jail.
When someone is involuntarily committed, you are not charged with a crime.
Sources told 7News that Shawna was taken away, checked out at a hospital and then taken to jail and charged.
Interim Village Manager Krishan Manners said an investigation is now underway.
“There’s really nothing that I can tell you about this beyond there was an incident. We do have an ongoing investigation internally,” Manner said.
When asked why an officer responded to the scene alone and not with a team, he said, “This is still under investigation at the moment. We do have a small police force.”
“She was treated wrong. She was beaten up. She was teated very, very wrong,” said Mary.
North Miami Police were called as backup, and their officers usually wear body cameras. 7News has requested the body camera footage from Friday’s incident.
The officer remains on the job, and Shawna remains in jail.
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