On May 24, 2014, Monique Tillman and her brother were riding home on their bikes when they decided to take their usual shortcut through their local mall parking lot. However, at some point, the siblings were stopped by Tacoma Police Department officer Jared Williams, who was working as security for the mall.
The officer claimed that Williams had attempted to kick him when he stopped her. Williams then proceeded to arrest Tillman, charging her with assaulting and officer and resisting arrest. However, when surveillance video of the parking lot was reviewed, it showed something completely different.
The video showed the then 15-year-old Tillman stop and begin talking to Officer Williams. After talking for a few moments, Tillman tried to ride away but was pulled off her bike by Williams. Williams can then be seen pushing Tillman up against one of the other cars in the parking lot and choking her.
Then Williams grabbed Tillman by her pony tail and violently threw her to the ground. Williams can also be seen using a Taser on Tillman before hand cuffing her. Tillman’s brother was also restrained by another officer on the scene during his sister’s assault. Upon seeing the video, the judge over her case dropped all charges against Tillman.
Williams, along with Simon Property Group, the owners and managers of the mall, Universal Protection Services Inc, the security company that employed Williams, and 10 other people have been named in a lawsuit brought forward by Tillman. In a recent interview, Tillman claimed that the suit, “isn’t about money. Honestly, I think I deserve a sincere apology from him.”