LOVELAND, Colo. — A former Loveland Police officer who struck a handcuffed woman who spit on him faces a charge of third-degree assault, which is a misdemeanor, the police department said on Thursday.
Probable cause was found in the May 21 incident against Russell Maranto, 28, who was issued a court summons Thursday, Loveland Police said in a news release.
Around 8:30 p.m. May 21, Loveland Police officers responded to reports of a woman wandering in and out of traffic and speaking incoherently in the area of North Garfield Avenue and East 29th Street.
Officers placed the woman into protective custody and took her to the Medical Center of the Rockies for additional evaluation. As soon as the woman was taken out of the patrol car at the hospital, she began cussing at the officers as they walked her inside, according to body-camera video release last week by Loveland Police.
Once inside the hospital, an officer, identified as Maranto, asked whether she wanted to sit down and told her he was going to have to take a piece of paper that she was holding in her hands.
> RAW FOOTAGE: Watch the body camera footage below:
The handcuffed woman was escorted to an exam room. Once she was seated, Maranto took the piece of paper from her hands, which appeared to anger the woman, the video shows.
As that happened, Maranto explained there was a hospital policy related to belongings and said they were "trying to help her."
As the situation escalated, the woman spat at a nurse and it landed on the floor. A nurse said she would not tolerate the behavior and said to "step out." She and another employee left the room, the video shows.
Maranto again told the woman, "These people are here to help you."
The other officer in the room asked the woman to talk to him instead, if she didn't like Maranto, and then is heard in the video saying, "Don't spit."
A second later, the woman spit toward Maranto's face, and he reacted by punching her in the face. The other officer later said the spit hit Maranto in his chest area.
The other officer pulled Maranto away from the woman and told him to step outside, then radioed for a supervisor to respond to the hospital, the video shows.
The woman continued to yell at the officer, who again told her not to spit and that if she did it again, he would put a spit mask on her, which he eventually did.
The 59-year-old woman was medically cleared and taken to the Larimer County jail on charges related to her actions at the hospital.
Maranto was placed on leave the night of the incident and terminated a few days later, according to Loveland Police.
This story includes previous reporting by Janet Oravetz.
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