Lawyer for Family of Sandra Bland Describes Police Dash Cam Video

Cannon Lambert, the lawyer representing the family of 28-year-old former Naperville resident Sandra Bland, has seen the police dash cam footage of Bland’s arrest and shared details of it with the Chicago Tribune.

The footage, according to Lambert, shows the officer walking to Bland’s car and getting her license and registration and walking back to his vehicle. When he returned, he asked Bland to put out the cigarette she was smoking, which she refused to do.

The officer then asked Bland to get out of the car, which she also refused to do. Bland reached for her cell phone and the officer told her to put the cell phone down and pulled out his Taser. Bland put the cell phone down and agreed to get out of the car.

The two then move behind Bland’s vehicle to the passenger side of the car, and are out of view for the rest of the footage, according to Lambert.

Bland can be heard protesting her arrest, Lambert said.

“The frustrating part of it is it revealed that her being asked to get out of the car in the first place wasn’t really necessary,” Lambert said.

Lambert also said the footage doesn’t shed anymore light on what exactly happened to Bland.

Bland was arrested July 10 for allegedly kicking the officer. She was initially pulled over for a traffic violation. She was found dead in her cell July 13. The official ruling for her death has been self-inflicted asphyxiation. Bland allegedly used a plastic garbage bag to hang herself in her cell.

Bland’s arrest was also recorded by a bystander.

Bland was set to start a new job at Texas Prairie View A&M, where she graduated in 2009.

Family and friends have been rocked by her death and have called for an independent autopsy.

Bland’s friend LaVaughn Mosley told KPRC Houston the idea that Bland killed herself is ridiculous.

“Anyone who knows Sandy Bland knows she has a thirst for life,” Mosley told KPRC. “She was planning for the future, and she came here to start that future, so to say she killed herself is totally absurd.”