A young woman was beaten and arrested by Huntington Park police officers on July 4 as a fire raged through the apartment she shared with her parents.
(Video courtesy of Adriana Hernandez)
Adriana Hernandez, 27, told ABC7 that the incident occurred when a fire in the garage spread to the family's apartment. Hernandez could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department said firefighters responded at 9:33 p.m. to a call about a structure fire in the 6400 block of Templeton Street. The fire also prompted a response from the Huntington Park Police Department.
Hernandez told the station she was trying to reach her father, who was trying to save the photography equipment he needed for his work from the burning building, but was stopped by a female officer. During a brief struggle, the same officer punched her in the face.
Adriana Hernández's house after the fire.
(Adriana Hernandez)
Adriana Hernandez shows a dark area she says resulted from being hit by a Huntington Park police officer.
(Adriana Hernandez)
“She didn’t care. She just grabbed me by the shirt, literally ripped off my rosary and started hitting me in the face three times,” he told the station.
A cellphone video shows Hernandez calling out to her father in Spanish before a female officer pushes her away. Seconds later, the same officer punches Hernandez in the face.
Hernandez said she was detained for resisting arrest.
The Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but in a statement sent to ABC7, it said the incident was “under administrative review to determine all facts and circumstances that resulted in the use of force to ensure compliance with department policy.”
Adriana Hernandez shows a dark area where a Huntington Park police officer struck her during a house fire on July 4, 2024, at her home in Huntington Park on Thursday, July 4, 2024.
(Adriana Hernandez)
Hernandez said the incident was distressing.
“I felt like everything was being taken away from me so quickly and it wasn't even my fault,” she told the station.
in a GoFundMe AccountHernandez said she is an only child and has to juggle studying at East Los Angeles Community College and working at In-N-Out to help her parents. She said the fire, which she blamed on “outdated electrical wiring,” left her family homeless.
Adriana Hernandez, right, and her family before the July 4 fire.
(Adriana Hernandez)
“To add insult to injury, a police officer used excessive force on me and hit me three times without justification,” he wrote. The money raised will help the family “overcome homelessness,” he wrote, and will help cover the loss of his father’s equipment.
