A Washington girl is suing her local mall and an off-duty police officer she claims assaulted her as she rode her bike through a mall parking lot.
The alleged assault took place in May 2014, however Monique Charlene Tillman - then 15 - filed a lawsuit Tuesday, claiming the officer pushed her into the side of a parked car before throwing her to the ground by her hair and shocking her with a taser.
Tillman says she was riding through the parking lot of Tacoma Mall with her brother when Tacoma Police Department Officer Jared Williams stopped them and assaulted her, according to the lawsuit obtained by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
'A child riding a bike should not have to worry that a police officer will stop her without legal cause and brutalize her,' attorney Vito de la Cruz said in a statement.
'Our communities are weary of another African American child being hurt by unwarranted and excessive police force.'
Tillman says she had spent the day selling used clothes nearby with her brother when the two cut through the parking lot on their bikes.
Williams stopped the pair and told them they were banned from the premises for creating a disturbance, but Tillman argued with him and tried to leave.
According to the lawsuit, Williams dragged the girl off her bike and tossed her around 'like a child's doll', Seattle P.I. reported.
The girl's brother witnessed what happened, and can be seen in the background of the security footage.
Tillman was arrested at the scene and later charged with fourth-degree assault.
Those charges were dismissed months later. The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages.
Only officer Williams and Tacoma Mall are named in the suit, not Tacoma Police Department.
Neither have commented on the lawsuit.
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