SPARTA, Ga. – The Georgia Bureau of Investigation released body camera video Friday related to the death of a Georgia woman who fell from a moving patrol car during her arrest earlier this month. Brianna Grier, 28, was seriously injured on July 15 and died on July 21 at an Atlanta hospital. Grier was arrested after Hancock County sheriff’s deputies were called to a home in Sparta, the GBI said. Deputies put Grier in the back of a patrol car, but she was not wearing a seat belt, her hands were handcuffed in front of her and the rear passenger door was never closed, according to GBI investigators. The GBI announced this week that the deputies who put Grier in the back of the patrol car failed to close the rear passenger door before driving away. The GBI did not say why deputies were called to the home or why Grier was arrested. Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing her family, said Grier was taken into custody after a mental health crisis. WARNING: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS CONTENT SOME MAY FIND DISTURBING The video shows deputies responding to a visibly agitated and erratic Grier. A brief struggle ensues in which deputies can be seen carrying Grier, who is handcuffed, to all fours. In the video, Grier can be heard telling deputies she is not drunk and asking them to breathalyze her several times. Grier is also heard threatening her life. “I bet I’ll hang myself once I get in there,” he says. “There’s more than one way to kill yourself.” Later in the video, deputies are seen placing Grier in the patrol car. Less than a minute into the drive, the deputy operator of the car Grier was placed in is seen stopping the car, getting out and walking a few feet back down the road to where Grier is seen on the ground. At one point, a deputy can be seen hitting Grier several times saying, “Brianna, Brianna,” in what appears to be an attempt to get her to respond. When she is unresponsive, the MP is heard calling for medical help. A second deputy appears from another car who shifts Grier from her stomach to her back and begins administering aid. “Take off the cuffs. Sit up Brianna. Be okay. Here you go,” the second deputy can be heard saying. About a minute later, deputies can be heard wondering how Grier got the back door open. “How did he jump out of the car, he shouldn’t be unlocking from the back,” a deputy can be heard saying. Near the end of the video, Grier is lying on her back visibly unconscious but still breathing. The video does not show Grier falling from the car. The GBI’s release of the video comes after Grier’s family held a press conference demanding answers about her death.
The family of a woman who fell from a police car and died wants answers
Brianna Grier, 28, was seriously injured on July 15 and died on July 21 at an Atlanta hospital. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said this week that deputies who put Grier in the back of a patrol car to take her to the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office failed to close the rear passenger door before driving away. The GBI said agents have conducted interviews, reviewed multiple body camera videos and performed mechanical tests on the patrol car. The investigation is ongoing.
