NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — NewsChannel 5 spoke exclusively with the woman involved in a traffic stop in Nashville, which led to a Metro officer being stripped of his police powers.
The controversial video surfaced last week and has now spawned at least two separate investigations – raising questions about Barrett Teague’s conduct.
The woman involved in the incident, Adrianna Ensley, spoke sat down with NewsChannel 5, saying she and her family had pulled into a Z-Mart on Dickerson Road when an unmarked Metro squad car pulled in behind her.
"We were just stopping to get something to drink because we had just left the park," said Adreneyonia Ensley.
She says Teague told her the car's tags were expired. She insisted they were not.
"I just went and peeked and walked back to the car and by the time I got to my seat he came up from behind me," said Ensley.
Ensley went to double check the tags herself and security video shows Officer Teague grab her and throw her several times against other vehicles.
"There was no necessary reason for him to use that kind of force against me," said Ensley. "It scared me senseless."
At one point, the video shows then shows Ensley's boyfriend get out of the car, but he resists intervening.
"In my shoes, I could have done something that led to something worse. I could have been killed," said Latraus Perry.
She and her boyfriend were cuffed and issued citations for resisting arrest. Meanwhile, Ensley says her 18-month-old son was left alone for several minutes in the backseat of the hot car.
“I had to kick and scream to get my son. He's only one. It's hot. The windows are up,” she says. “It's hard to trust police officers now that something like this happened.”
Teague was decommissioned - stripped of his police pawers - pending the investigation.
"Decommissioned ... that's a good start, but if you could see the anger in his face," said Ensley, who thinks Teague should lose his job.
Metro reports her tags were expired, but Ensley maintains she was targeted and unfairly treated.
"I think he just stopped me just to pick because we are black," said Ensley. "It's hard to trust police officers now that something like this happened."
Metro Police have seen the video, decommissioned Teague and issued a statement, in part:
"The administration of the MNPD and officer Teague's supervisors are very concerned with what the video shows."
Both the police department and Nashville's new Community Oversight Board have opened investigations. The Fraternal Order of Police says it's important not to rush to judgement until all the facts are knows.
And there is now a third, separate criminal investigation that could bring criminal charges.
Meanwhile, the Fraternal Order of Police said it's important not to rush to judgment based on the video alone ... and people need to wait until they know all the facts.
This is not the first such incident involving Officer Teague.
We checked his personnel file. Teague was suspended four vacation days last year for what the police department described as a use of force incident not consistent with department policy.
