A woman has filed a claim against the Los Angeles Police Department alleging she was beat up by officers in her church parking lot.
Ok Jin Yun alleges the incident happened when she drove to church for a prayer service on April 14 at 5:30 a.m.
"She's scared. She's scared," said her son, David, translating for her from Korean.
The incident was captured by surveillance cameras at Oriental Mission Church.
Yun was followed into the parking lot by two officers — male and female — in a police SUV with no siren and no roof lights visible.
She said she doesn't know why they followed her, but believes it may have started seconds earlier, when she had pulled up behind their patrol vehicle, southbound on Western Avenue.
"She honked, thinking it was, you know, a black SUV," her son said.
The video shows officers getting out and approaching Yun. Words are exchanged. And then she appears to be forced to the pavement. Photos taken after the incident show facial lacerations that she said came from the altercation.
"They injured her back, her neck, her shoulders," said Antonio Kizzie, Yun's attorney. "She still feels some pain nowadays."
Yun admits she attempted to make a cellphone call during her interaction with officers, which may have played a role in what followed. Her son says she speaks enough English to turn over license and registration, but not much more.
"Who was she calling on the phone? She was calling 911, requesting a Korean language speaking officer," Kizzie said.
"I was beyond angry," Yun's son added.
David Yun said he contacted police for an explanation after his mother was released from the hospital. She was neither arrested nor charged.
"Their reaction was that the officers were trying to 'help' my mom," David said. "Help her? Do you believe that? I don't."
A LAPD spokesman said a use-of-force investigation has been launched, but would not comment further, pending a complaint Yun is filing.
She claims excessive force and unreasonable detention.
The department spokesman said there is dashcam video from the police vehicle with sound that tells a different story about Yun's interaction with the officers that morning. But it will likely not be released.
