Officer Resigned After Footage Shows Alleged Assault Against Pregnant Black Woman

A pregnant woman was placed in handcuffs after she was arrested on a reckless driving allegation. But as she sat strapped to a booking bench inside a Buckeye police station, surveillance video shows an officer did the unthinkable. The officer in question has since resigned, but local activists are demanding systemic accountability within Arizona’s Buckeye Police Department.

The officer, Carri Carrico, faces two felony aggravated assault charges connected to two separate incidents involving people in handcuffs after newly released video and body camera footage surfaced as part of an internal investigation and criminal case, according to KTXS. She has pleaded not guilty.

The first confrontation unfolded Nov. 1, 2025, after Carrico arrested a 37-week-pregnant Black woman on suspicion of reckless driving, per the outlet. Prosecutors said the woman was handcuffed behind her back and restrained on a booking bench when Carrico struck her in the face. Investigators wrote there was “no indication” the woman attempted to assault the officer or posed an imminent threat when the alleged blow was delivered.

According to the video, a chaotic struggle between the woman and Carrico ensued inside the booking room. You can hear the woman screaming. At one point, the woman’s shirt rides up, exposing her pregnant stomach as Carrico forces her onto the bench. The woman was later treated for a facial contusion and evaluated for a possible concussion, according to investigative records, PEOPLE reported.

“She gets me to sit down, and she just hits me,” the woman later told investigators. “I got scratches right here, a bruise right here, a scratch on my neck. I got like two things on my back.”

In the footage, the officer can also be heard calling the pregnant woman “nasty,” “gross” and “an ass.”

Carrico allegedly told investigators she “reverted” to her training because of the pregnant woman’s behavior, according to ABC 15 News. Her supervisor, however, wrote in an internal memo that Carrico’s behavior was “very aggressive.”

Less than three months after this incident, Carrico was once again under scrutiny for another intake incident– this time at the Maricopa County jail. Authorities say surveillance footage shows Carrico punching a handcuffed man in the head while officers escorted him through the jail, even though investigators concluded he was already under control and no longer actively resisting.

Earlier in the encounter, the man had headbutted Carrico outside the facility before being subdued, according to ABC 15.

The cases prompted Buckeye Police Chief Robert Sanders to request an outside investigation by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office after concerns emerged over Carrico’s use of force. A grand jury later indicted her on two counts of aggravated assault.

Carrico, whose law enforcement career began in 2014, resigned from the Buckeye Police Department on June 4 after being placed on unpaid leave.

“I know everything I did here is not perfect,” she said. “I know using profanity is obviously frowned upon and citizens shouldn’t be cussed at and whatnot.”