Criminal charges against a UNC-Greensboro student, Alisia Rea, 22, and her partner Quinten Thomas, 24, were dismissed Wednesday. The charges were issued in October after UNCG Police stopped Thomas for a traffic violation, though the situation turned physical when officers grabbed and cursed at Thomas for not exiting the vehicle when told and kneeled on top of Rea in an attempt to arrest her.
Several bystanders filmed the altercation, and the footage quickly gained attention on social media. The university chapter of the NAACP criticized the officers at the time for police brutality against Rea and Thomas, who are both Black. Rea was charged with resisting a public officer and assault on a government official and Thomas with resisting a public officer, driving with a revoked license and stopping on a highway.
Rea’s attorney Dominique Erney from the Southern Coalition for Social Justice applauded the dismissal of the charges.
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“Dismissal of the criminal charges is the appropriate outcome here,” Erney said. “Overly aggressive policing undermines public safety. Here, it placed our clients in a dangerous situation that was not of their making. They should never have been forced to endure this ordeal.”
While the criminal charges are dropped, Rea’s attorneys said she is still facing potential disciplinary action from UNCG. State Sen. Michael Garrett, D-Guilford, said while the dismissal of the charges is undoubtedly good news, he is concerned that Rea may face consequences at the university level.
“What concerns me now is UNCG’s decision to continue pursuing disciplinary action against Ms. Rea despite the full dismissal of criminal charges,” Garrett said in a press release.
“If the courts have determined these charges cannot stand, the university should follow that lead. Continuing this investigation only prolongs the trauma for a young woman who came to UNCG to pursue an education, not to be dragged through months of legal and administrative proceedings. I urge Chancellor Gilliam to bring this matter to a close and allow Ms. Rea to move forward with her life and her studies.”
The university’s incident report named just one officer as being involved in the altercation — police trainee Rebecca Galicia — despite Officer Cristian Ortiz and Sgt. Braxton Hiatt also being present at the scene.
Following the charges being dismissed, a UNCG representative did not initially respond to questions regarding the current employment status of the three officers, however the UNCG Police contacts webpage now lists Galicia as a “telecommunicator” in the communications division of the department, no longer as a police trainee. Ortiz and Hiatt are listed under the same positions they were in October.
Several hours after publication of this article, the university release this statement: “Consistent with State personnel laws, we can’t comment on individual personnel matters.”
The start of the video shows Ortiz attempting to grab Thomas out of the driver’s seat of his vehicle. Thomas told Ortiz to let go of him so he could step out of the car. Ortiz let go of Thomas, and Thomas repeatedly asked the officers to back up from the driver’s side so he could step out. Ortiz shouted at Thomas, telling him to, “Get out of the f—ing car right now, man!”
“Can you back up?” Thomas said in the video. “I do not feel safe getting out of the car with you guys hovering over me right now.”
Hiatt then arrived on the scene and said Thomas was under arrest. Hiatt is seen removing his stun-gun device and pointing it at Thomas through the open car door, moments after arriving.
Ortiz pulled Thomas out of the driver’s seat and began restraining him. As Thomas had his hands behind his back against the side of the vehicle, Hiatt told Thomas he was about to be “tased.” Officers then put Thomas in the police car.
When Rea questioned the officers on Thomas’ arrest, Ortiz asked for her name because he believed she was interfering with the officers’ investigation. Rea did not give her name and asked for Ortiz’s badge number. She moved off the street onto the sidewalk, where Ortiz followed her to continue asking for her name.
After Rea asked for Ortiz’s badge number multiple times, he responded officers do not have them. A UNCG spokesperson confirmed to Carolina Public Press in October that UNCG Police do not have badge numbers.
After Rea not providing her name, Ortiz said, “You’re going to jail, too.” As Rea began walking away, officers followed her and told her to stop. Officers Ortiz, Hiatt and Galicia can be seen attempting to restrain her.
Rea fell to the ground after struggling to break their grasp and is seen on her stomach on the sidewalk as officers proceeded with the arrest. Additional footage filmed by a bystander shows all three officers on top of Rea. She asked the officers several times to remove their hands from her neck.
The university posted a statement in response to the videos, signed by UNCG Police Chief Chris Jasso, to its website in October stating it is looking into the incident. But Jasso ultimately defended the officers’ actions and the charges against that have since been dismissed.
“During the interaction, a UNCG student approached the car and, despite repeated warnings to step back, put her hand on an officer’s shoulder to separate him from the driver,” Jasso wrote.
“After being told numerous times to back up, the student finally gave the officers room to eventually take the driver into custody. As is routinely done on campus, officers asked her to identify herself so they could refer her through the University conduct process.”
“The student refused to provide that information until she received the officers’ badge numbers, which our department does not use. We do, however, have our names clearly visible on our uniforms. After multiple warnings, she tried to leave the scene and resisted officers’ efforts to detain her. Controlled force was used to safely restrain her.”
President of the university’s NAACP Cerinity Cornell said the dismissal of the charges is a reminder that community advocacy and legal accountability matter.
“UNCG NAACP remains deeply concerned by the actions that led to their arrests, and we are grateful to Southern Coalition for Social Justice for standing firmly in pursuit of justice,” she said in a press release.
“This outcome affirms what we have said from the beginning: our students deserve to be treated with dignity, fairness and respect. We will continue to advocate for transparency, accountability and the protection of students’ rights on our campus.”
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include a statement that UNCG released several hours after its initial publication.
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