Lawsuit: Arkansas Trooper Punched Teen During Traffic Stop
An 18-year-old woman says a state trooper threw her to the ground and struck her in the face after she pulled away during handcuffing.
An 18-year-old Black woman has filed a federal lawsuit against an Arkansas State Police trooper, alleging he slammed her to the ground and punched her in the face during a traffic stop earlier this month.
Alisa Hackett filed the suit Monday against Trooper Moisses Arellano over the Aug. 1 incident in Mississippi County, Arkansas. According to the lawsuit, Hackett was unarmed and posed no threat, and was suspected of at most a minor traffic offense.
"Arellano struck her because she talked back to him — because she questioned him, objected to what he was doing, and declined to be silent while he did it," the lawsuit states. "A closed-fist blow to the face of an unarmed eighteen-year-old girl is not a permissible answer to speech."
According to Arellano's own use-of-force report, obtained by NBC affiliate KAIT-TV, he stopped Hackett for driving 71 mph in a 60 mph zone. Hackett told him her car window was broken and she was trying to get home. When he began arresting her, the report says she pulled her arms away while he tried to secure her wrists, prompting him to take her to the ground.
"After giving multiple commands for her to roll over without compliance, I delivered one closed-fist strike to the left side of her face in an attempt to gain compliance," Arellano wrote, adding that she continued resisting afterward.
Hackett was booked into Mississippi County jail on five charges: improper display of tags, a vehicle lamp restriction, no seat belt, possession of alcohol by a minor, and refusal to submit to arrest.
Attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing Hackett, is calling for a use-of-force investigation. The lawsuit accuses Arellano of pursuing criminal charges against Hackett to "shield himself from discipline and civil liability" and deter her from complaining.
"If you cannot handle a teenage girl without taking her to the ground, cursing at her, and punching her in the face, you should not be wearing a badge," Crump said in a statement.
The Arkansas State Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and NBC News could not reach Arellano.
This article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), in accordance with our editorial policy.
