OFF THE STREETS

Cop Convicted for Tackling Woman Who Called 911 for Help

A disturbing video showed Alejandro Giraldo throw Dyma Loving to the ground.

A Miami cop was convicted Thursday of battery after a cell-phone video showed his violent 2019 arrest of a woman who had called the police for help. Alejandro Giraldo turned himself in after the video showed him tackling Dyma Loving, a 26-year-old mother of three, after she reported her neighbor for pointing a shotgun at her friend. Giraldo pushed Loving against a fence, put her in a headlock, and forced her to the ground. Giraldo claimed it was Loving and her friend who caused a scene, forcing his hand in pinning her down. “Police officers can put their hands on people to effectuate a lawful arrest,” prosecutor Tim VanderGiesen said, according to the Associated Press. “If the arrest is unlawful, they have no more rights than the rest of us. And he sure as heck can’t tackle her to the ground.” Giraldo’s sentence has not been determined.