A 26-year-old father arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer claims that he was the one who was attacked.
Brandon Dawson was arrested around 11 p.m. Sunday on suspicion of assaulting a gang officer from the Los Angeles Police Department's Newton Division, according to Officer Lilliana Preciado, who said she did not have any details on what led to the arrest.
His parents said Dawson, a dental assistant, was stopped by police at 65th Street and Broadway after he had picked up his 7-month-old daughter from his grandmother's apartment.
Dawson's mother, Linda Washington, told City News Service her son had parked his car in the parking lot of a closed business next to his grandmother's apartment and went to get his daughter. He was strapping his daughter into her car seat when "several police" came up to him.
"I noticed when I was backing out some lights came behind me, and I just got out the car to see what was going on. And then some cops tell me to get back in the car," Dawson said.
They questioned him about why he had parked at the business, which he had done because there was no street parking, Washington said.
The officers told him to stop what he was doing, then grabbed him because they said he wasn't following their instructions quickly enough, she said.
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Dawson said he was trying to comply with LAPD orders as well as make sure his 7-month-old daughter was safe.
Washington said the officers took the baby seat out of the car, prompting her son to snap.
"When they grabbed me that's when the officer grabbed my baby, snatched her. That's when I got mad or whatever," Dawson said.
Words were exchanged and police dragged him to the ground, and he called for his grandmother to come get his daughter, she said.
"Everything was like a blur after that," Dawson said. "Bodies on top of me, that's about it. And them trying to hogtie me, just tie my feet together and handcuff me."
Washington said that he offered to show police his car registration and insurance card.
Dawson's father said his son did not have a criminal record or gang affiliations.
"I kept telling them what was the probable cause for him being stopped. They couldn't tell me anything, all they kept saying was assault on an officer and resisting arrest," Dawson's father Fisher Dawson Jr. said.
Dawson was treated at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood for neck abrasions and a bruised wrist.
The LAPD said a female officer injured her back during the arrest.
Dawson was released on $50,000 bail. He is due in court early next month.
City News Service contributed to this report.
