Only On 2: Woman Suing LAPD Over Alleged Sexual Assault Says Emotional Scars Won't Heal
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A 27-year-old woman who was shown on camera tumbling out of a moving LAPD squad car last year said she fell out of the vehicle to avoid being sexually assaulted by her arresting officer.
CBS2's Randy Paige spoke to Kim Nguyen Friday.
Nguyen, a 27-year-old pharmacist, says she was handcuffed in the back of a squad car when an officer began to sexually assault her in the early morning hours of March 17, 2013. Nguyen said the officer's negligence also caused her to tumble out of the vehicle.
The officer got into the back seat with her, she alleges, and started grabbing and fondling her.
In a taped deposition, she was asked about the officer grabbing her.
"I told him to stop. I said, 'What are you doing? You're a police officer,'" she said.
After tumbling out of the vehicle, Nguyen says she lost all her teeth.
She told Paige that videotape of the incident shows officers are lying about what happened that night.
Nguyen also told Paige that she continues to suffer not only from her physical ailments but also from the emotional scars as well.
"I definitely don't believe in people like I used to," she said.
Nguyen said she is unable to have a romantic relationship, get married or have children -- as her mother always dreamed she would.
"My mother says all these things to make me feel better. I [know] I'm not ugly. I'm still smart, I'm still capable and all these things. And she says don't worry about your teeth. Don't worry about what other people think."
Paige said the two officers involved in the incident continue to work their regular shift while Internal Affairs investigates.
The LAPD told CBS2's Stacey Butler Thursday they would not comment on pending litigation.
