On a cold early morning in February 2008 in Millville, Sheila Stevenson and then-Millville police officer Carlo Drogo crossed paths.
It was still dark, around 6 a.m., and Stevenson was riding her bicycle on the sidewalk of North 2nd Street when Drogo, in his patrol car, pulled alongside.
What happened next was captured on video and is also the subject of a lawsuit in Superior Court in which Stevenson alleges Drogo beat her while she was in custody. The officer denies the charges.
Drogo resigned from the police force last fall and Stevenson has since been found guilty of resisting arrest.
Drogo said in a statement earlier this week he stopped Stevenson because she was riding her bicycle on the sidewalk, a violation of city ordinances.
In the video, released by the City of Millville at the request of The Daily Journal, Drogo exits his car and approaches Stevenson from behind.
When she appears to resist the officer, he grabs her by the arm to subdue her. When that doesn't work, Drogo grabs the pepper spray on his utility belt.
Still standing behind Stevenson, Drogo tries to spray her, but instead accidentally sprays himself in the face.
The officer, appearing stunned, then grabs Stevenson off the bicycle and drags her to the ground.
Moments later, two backup officers arrive and struggle to handcuff Stevenson as she is facedown on the ground.
Drogo is seen in the video doubled over from the pepper spray, with his arm over his eyes.
"I'm not doing nothing!" Stevenson repeatedly yells as the officers try to handcuff her.
Drogo then walks over and, as the other two officers struggle with Stevenson, appears to punch the woman four times in the head with a closed fist.
"Why are you hitting me?" Stevenson screams.
As the two backup officers continue to struggle with Stevenson, Drogo appears to throw another punch at Stevenson and to kick her before putting his foot on or near her neck.
After a few more moments of struggle, the officers handcuff Stevenson and sit her on the curb.
Drogo, who is standing nearby, walks past and slaps Stevenson on the side of the head.
"Why did you hit me when I'm handcuffed? Did anybody see it?" Stevenson yells.
After being searched by a female officer, Stevenson is led to a patrol car while other officers flush Drogo's eyes with bottles of water.
Drogo defends his actions as appropriate.
"I stand by everything that I did that night and only ask for the same due process afforded earlier to the plaintiff," Drogo, 27, said in the statement, referring to Stevenson.
"Please know that I am the person who activated the dash cam that night.
I turned it on as an objective witness because I was acting in good faith to enforce the laws of the state."
Many of the people with knowledge of the arrest -- including Millville's chief of police, the Cumberland County prosecutor and the lawyer representing Stevenson -- declined to comment on the video.
Stevenson, 42, filed a suit alleging excessive force in state Superior Court last month, naming Drogo, the city and other officers as defendants.
No criminal charges have been filed against Drogo or the other officers involved.
Millville Police Chief Ed Grennon said his department follows the guidelines for use of force set by the state Attorney General's Office.
This wasn't the case in the incident involving Drogo and Stevenson, said Donald F. Tibbs, an associate professor of law at the Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel University in Philadelphia, who has studied the use of police force and viewed the video.
"This is clearly excessive force," Tibbs said. "This is way beyond excessive force. This is actually a violation of her civil rights.
"He's upset because he sprayed himself with pepper spray and this is him acting out his frustration," Tibbs said of Drogo.
"I would like to think this doesn't happen to you just because you're riding your bike on the sidewalk."
In connection with the incident, Stevenson was charged with possession of cocaine, resisting arrest, providing false information to a law enforcement officer, obstruction of justice and failure to turn over a controlled dangerous substance to police. Stevenson was found guilty of resisting arrest in Municipal Court last June.
She was fined $756, plus court costs, according to court records.
On the drug possession charge, she was given a conditional discharge, meaning the count would be dismissed if she stayed out of trouble.
