CMPD Shows Video Of Teen Choking Herself

As it tries to counter accusations of officer misconduct, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department on Tuesday showed reporters video of an 18-year-old woman who used the seat belt in the backseat of a police car to choke herself last month. Police arrested Tanisha Williams and charged her with stealing a shirt from a store on Freedom Drive. Police say the woman got belligerent after being placed in the patrol car, banging her head on the window and glass divider between the front and backseats. She then used a seatbelt to strangle herself. The officers found Williams slumped over in the backseat. CMPD says the officers did not immediately see the seatbelt around Williams' neck. Williams is still in a coma. CMPD did not allow reporters to record the video. Her family's attorney, William Harding, also watched the video. He told WCNC-TV that CMPD should have immediately restrained Williams. "It'd be no different if I was suicidal. You don't put me in a room full of ropes or knives or guns. You protect me from me," said Harding. "I counted two officers next to her. I could see them as close as you are to me, while this was happening."