Video shows Fairfield officer punching high school student in the face

FAIRFIELD — Videos circulating on social media Thursday of a Fairfield police officer body slamming, punching and repeatedly pulling the hair of a Fairfield High School student has drawn concern and outrage from numerous observers. 

The incident happened during an arrest on the school campus at around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday,  according to a Fairfield police statement released Thursday afternoon. Police also released additional body camera footage from the arresting officers.

According to the Fairfield Police press release, the officers were dispatched to Fairfield high for a fight between two students.

The body camera footage shows Officer James Lewis take one student who police said was involved in the fight to a school office. 

After closing the office door, leaving the student inside, Lewis turns his attention to another student, who police said was also involved in the fight.

The other student backs away from Lewis, who told him to “chill out” and “relax” as he detained the student with his hands behind his back.

Lewis, who is an award-winning amateur body builder and part of the Fairfield SWAT team, was escorting the student out of the school, when, according to the police press release, the student “quickly pulled away from the officer and turned towards the officer.”

Then, Officer Bianca Brown, who was rushing toward Lewis, grabs the student and slams him to the ground.

According to the police press release, the student was displaying “aggressive behaviors,” which necessitated the takedown.

In videos of the incident taken by bystanders, in addition to the body camera footage, Brown straddles the student and repeatedly punches him in the face and head while grabbing his hair using her other hand.

According to Fairfield police, these “distraction strikes” were needed to subdue the student.

In the videos, the student can be seen covering his face, apparently shielding himself from the blows. 

Brown yelled, “give me your fucking hands,” according to the videos. The press release states that she was not able to overcome the student’s resistance, so she administered additional “distraction strikes.”

Lewis then kneelled back down to help in the arrest and repeated “cuffs” several times, seemingly calling Brown’s attention to handcuff the student.

As Brown and Lewis escorted the student out of the high school, Brown is seen again pulling the students hair. 

Fairfield police said that both students involved in the fight were arrested.

The student’s parents, Koty and Will Williams, have been calling for attention to the incident on their Facebook page.

In a video posted by Koty Williams, a woman said to Brown that the student didn’t seem to be resisting and asked Brown why she had punched the student in the face. 

“That’s your opinion,” said Brown. “I used the necessary force to overcome his resistance to effect my arrest.”

Brown, who also goes by Camacho, also worked at the Vallejo Police Department for two years before joining Fairfield police in 2021.

Fairfield City Councilmember K. Patrice Williams said in a Facebook post that after she saw the video she “immediately escalated the matter” and that Fairfield police Chief Dan Marshall responded to her saying the incident is under review.

“I will continue to monitor the situation closely,” Williams said.

Vallejo civil rights attorney Melisa Nold called the incident “very concerning.”

“It looks bad. It looks like it's in the excessive use of force category.” 

Nold, who has seen the videos, said in an interview that with police use of force “you can only use the amount of force required to overcome the physical resistance.”

But “punching someone in the face is not usually a good method,” she said. “If the person is curled in a fetal position, they’re not resisting, they’re protecting themselves.”

Koty Williams said on Facebook Thursday that her son had returned home safely and is “OK.”