Woman Arrested On Video Was 'Hyperventilating': Aurora Police

Updated at 11:45 p.m. June 14:

AURORA, IL — After a video of an arrest by Aurora police gained more than 15,000 views in a day, the Aurora Police Department released 20 minutes of footage to refute claims a woman was left unconscious during the arrest.

A two-and-a-half-minute video posted Saturday evening on Facebook shows a man screaming for passersby to "record this" as he was arrested along the side of Eola Road, claiming officers choked a woman who was a passenger in his car.

The video also shows the woman shaking as an officer holds her up in a sitting position with her hands cuffed behind her back, but in a statement Sunday night, the Aurora Police Department said the woman was "hyperventilating" while being arrested after a traffic stop.

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"The video posted on social media only shows a short portion of the traffic stop and doesn't provide any information about what happened," the department's statement reads. "Unfortunately, people have rushed to judge the incident without having all the facts."

The man and woman arrested in the video are both facing charges in connection with the incident. Jajuan Mitchell-Lomax, 22, of Aurora, was charged with aggravated resisting arrest, and Alexus Ward, 22, of Maywood, was charged with obstructing identification and resisting arrest, according to police.

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An officer pulled over Mitchell-Lomax's car just after 6:30 p.m. Saturday after seeing two people fighting inside and noticing the passenger door was opened at a red light, police said. After officers asked for identification from Ward, she and Mitchell-Lomax "became extremely irate and began yelling at the officers," police officials said Sunday night.

Both told officers they had no probable cause to stop them or ask for identification, but police said they were investigating whether either of them had committed battery, allowing them to demand identification.

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Footage from cameras on several Aurora police vehicles shows officers spent about 8 minutes asking for Ward's name and birthday before telling her to get out of the car.

"After refusing multiple demands to exit the vehicle, the female had to be removed from the vehicle," Aurora police said in the statement.

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When an officer tried to pull Ward out of the car, Mitchell-Lomax stopped him from unbuckling Ward's seatbelt, police allege. Police footage shows four officers pulling Mitchell-Lomax and Ward from the car after a short struggle inside.

After being tackled to the ground by two officers, Ward screams for them to get off of her and says she can't breathe before her body appears to go limp, the footage shows.

"The woman never had any pressure applied to her neck or was never restrained in any way that could prevent her breathing," the statement reads. "After the woman was in custody, she began hyperventilating."

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Police said officers immediately called the Aurora Fire Department to provide medical treatment for Ward, and an ambulance reached the scene of the arrest about 6 minutes later, according to the video.

Police footage also shows two officers wrestling with Mitchell-Lomax after pulling him out of his car. An officer struck Mitchell-Lomax twice in the side with his knee during the arrest, according the police department's statement, which calls it "an acceptable use of force" under department policy.

Ward and Mitchell-Lomax were taken to a local hospital and later released, and an officer received several cuts during the arrests, according to police. It was not immediately clear Sunday night if Mitchell-Lomax and Ward had been released from custody.

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The arrests Saturday came just three days after the department released a summary of its policies amid ongoing calls for police reform and an end to police brutality against black people. In a Facebook post Wednesday, police officials said officers are banned from using chokeholds and are "trained to apply force only as a last resort."

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Police Chief Kristen Ziman has also said the department is creating an online portal to publish information on complaints against Aurora officers and investigations into police misconduct.

However, the new portal will not include the results of Office of Professional Standards investigations into officers' use of force. The OPS is tasked with investigating any incident in which an officer uses force or makes a "show of force," like removing their gun from its holster, according to department policy.

Posted at 4 p.m. June 14:

AURORA, IL — A video posted Saturday evening on Facebook appears to show an unconscious woman suffering from seizures while being arrested by Aurora police. The two-and-a-half-minute video, taken by a passenger in a car driving by the arrest, shows a man screaming for people to "record this" as he is arrested along the side of the road after a traffic stop.

"She's on the ground passed out, record this," the man yells.

As the vehicle filming the arrest moves forward, Aurora police officers are seen sitting up a woman, who appears to be unconscious as her hands are cuffed behind her back.

Officers then lay the woman down and stood over her for about a minute as the man being arrested repeatedly yelled for someone to help her. About two minutes into the video, the woman appears to suffer seizures as an Aurora officer holds her up in a sitting position.

"They choked her out ... no reason, no probable cause," the man says to those recording the arrest.

The video was posted Saturday night, but it is unclear exactly where or when it was taken.

Aurora Police Department spokesperson Paris Lewbel said Sunday that "the video on Facebook does not show what happened," adding the department will soon release a statement and footage taken by cameras on police vehicles.

"Neither offender had any pressure applied to their neck nor were restrained in any way that could prevent them from breathing," Lewbel said.

The arrest Saturday came just three days after the department released a summary of its policies. In the post Wednesday, police officials said officers are banned from using chokeholds and are "trained to apply force only as a last resort."

Police Chief Kristen Ziman has also pledged to create an online portal to publish information on complaints against Aurora officers and investigations into police misconduct.

However, the new portal is not expected to include the results of Office of Professional Standards investigations into officers' use of force. The OPS is tasked with investigating any incident in which an officer uses force or makes a "show of force," like removing their gun from its holster, according to department policy.