Caught on tape: New Jersey woman claims cop beat her
February 3, 2009

A New Jersey woman has filed a lawsuit claiming police officers beat her, after she was stopped for illegally riding her bike on the sidewalk. The encounter was caught on a police dashcam video.

From the six minutes of video captured by two Millville police dashboard cameras, emerge two very different versions of what happened on an early morning last February.

The just-released video is at the center of a lawsuit in which this woman, Sheila Stevenson, claims she became the victim of excessive force after then-Millville police officer Carlo Drogo pulled her over for illegally riding her bicycle on a sidewalk.

The video shows Drogo approaching and Stevenson appearing to push him away. In the course of the struggle, Drogo sprays himself in the face with pepper spray, then appears to knock Stevenson to the ground to subdue her. Drogo is seemingly doubled over in pain as other officers arrive.

Seconds later, Drogo approaches Stevenson again and appears to punch her four times.

Stevenson is eventually led away.

She was later convicted of resisting arrest.

Stevenson's civil suit, filed in December, names Drogo, other officers and the city of Millville as defendants. Stevenson's lawyer would not comment, nor would Millville's police chief.

Carlo Drogo resigned from the police department in October for undisclosed reasons. He wouldn't talk with us on camera, but issued a statement in which he stands by his actions and calls Stevenson's allegations a distortion of the facts.

Drogo also insists the arrest was lawful and describes the lawsuit as frivolous.

Meanwhile, there's now a warrant out for Stevenson's arrest on drug possession charges stemming from her encounter with police that was caught on camera.