Wash. woman calls 911 during her arrest to report excessive force by police

(CBS) FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - Police in Washington State are reviewing a case in which a woman diagnosed with cognitive and hearing disabilities was allegedly punched several times by police while being restrained during an arrest, CBS affiliate KIRO reports.

Megan Graham, whose face is black and blue and swollen from the alleged beating, told KIRO that she suffered a concussion in the incident.

"I still have a hard time understanding how things got so out of control, so fast," Graham told the station. "It was a total lack of communication."

The incident occurred Monday, May 27 outside an apartment complex in Federal Way, Wash. Graham had reportedly just pulled into the parking lot and as she was getting out of her car, noticed a police car behind her.

"I understood that he saw me using a cell phone," said Graham. "I told the officer I was going to carry my dog thirty feet to a friend's apartment. I told him, hey, you can walk with me," she said.

According to the station, Graham says because the officer was speaking to her from his running car, she never heard his order to get back into her car. When the officer allegedly lunged and grabbed her wrist, she said she felt she was being attacked.

"I pulled my arm back, grabbed my phone and called 911 to call for help," she said. "I told the officer I had mental and hearing disabilities, and didn't understand why he was trying to hurt me."

In 911 recordings obtained by KIRO, Graham is heard pleading with the dispatcher for help.

"You attacked me before you said anything! There is no point whatsoever for you to touch me like that, especially with my condition, so how dare you even touch me?," Graham is heard shouting in the 911 call.

The officer is clearly heard repeating "You are under arrest."

During the 911 call, another responding officer reportedly punched Graham several times in the face, and is heard repeatedly, loudly ordering her to stop resisting, the station reports.

"I am not resisting," replied Graham. Graham says when an officer put his weight on her hip, which she says was previously injured, she reacted by trying to flip over. Federal Way police said she assaulted an officer during that struggle, according to the station.

In an email to KIRO, a Federal Way police spokesperson provided the officer's narrative of the struggle.

"As the officer approached, Graham squared off against him in a fighter's stance and attempted to strike him with closed fists. (The officer) responded with closed fist strikes to Graham's face which brought her to the ground where she was handcuffed," the officer wrote.

"It was horrible. I just didn't understand any of it, "said Graham, who denies trying to hit the officer. "I told him about my condition. Punching me over and over in the eye is obviously excessive force. He could have handled it a lot differently," Graham said.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing, but police have recommended that Graham be charged with felony assault to an officer, the station reports.