London police say they plan to review the arrest of a London woman charged earlier this month who claims she was assaulted by officers.
On May 10, 36-year-old Sarah Soyemi was arrested and charged by London police at White Oaks Mall. Police say Soyemi had been previously banned from the mall and she reportedly refused to leave the property when asked.
LondonNewsToday.ca has contacted White Oaks Mall for clarification regarding Soyemi's ban.
During the incident, police officials say there was an altercation between Soyemi and one of the arresting officers. Eventually additional officers were called to assist and the accused was taken into custody. Police say the first officer and Soyemi suffered minor injuries. As a result, Soyemi was charged with failing to leave the premises when directed, resisting arrest and assaulting a peace officer.
Over a week after her arrest, a series of videos posted to social media by Soyemi, recalling her side of the incident are starting to go viral. In the recordings posted to the video app TikTok and other social media outlets, Soyemi alleges her injuries are the result of police brutality.
In her recorded statements, Soyemi shares she is a single mother of two boys who immigrated to Canada from Nigeria four years ago. She claims she has no other criminal records and has never had to deal with police in London.
During the incident which led to her arrest, Soyemi said she attended White Oaks Mall and stood outside one of the stores to give out samples of weight loss tea and coffee products she sells. She later claims mall security asked her to leave and ended up contacting London police when she did not immediately move on.
"The police lady came [over to me]," Soyemi said in her video. "When she came, she just came out of her car, she charged at me, she tried to grab my shirt and I told her 'do not touch me.'"
Soyemi also alleges that she managed to get out of the officer's hold, but was then apprehended again by the officer who reportedly grabbed her by her shirt again.
"Now when she grabbed on my shirt, I pulled on her hair, because I believe in self defense," Soyemi said. She added that she believes the officer had no reason to grab hold of her as she claims she was being peaceful ahead of her interaction with police.
She also explained in her video that the two ended up on the ground as a result of the tussle. Soyemi claims that she continued to ask the officer to get off of her and said she would only release the officer if they got off of her.
Soyemi claims two witnesses came by to assist the officer by pinning her down which allegedly left bruises on her arms before additional London police officers arrived. She said when police backup arrived, another officer approached her and "punched" her in the eye. In the videos, which were filmed several days after the incident, one of Soyemi's eyes is swollen shut.
She goes on to claim that she was handcuffed and taken to police headquarters on Dundas Street for several hours where she was subsequently charged. During this time, Soyemi says her eye began to swell rapidly and she asked for medical attention several times, but claims she was ignored for several hours.
Soyemi said she cannot believe this incident happened to her and alleges there were other people out front of the store before her arrest smoking and drinking while she was trying to talk to other people.
"It's unimaginable to believe that White police people could actually do this," Soyemi said. "What you see on TV, what they did to George Floyd is exactly what they did to me."
After her release, Soyemi said she went to the emergency room and claims she was told that she has a fracture behind her eye from the blow she said she received from an officer. She later becomes emotional in her videos and pleads for the public to help her share her story.
Following significant public response to Soyemi's videos, officials with the London Police Service have stated that they will be reviewing the case.
"While we disagree with some of the particulars of how this interaction has been described, the LPS takes all allegations of this nature very seriously and as such the Chief has directed that a review of this incident be conducted," a statement from London police read.
Chief Steve Williams has also requested that the public refrains from forming any conclusions until the review is completed.
https://twitter.com/S_Williams001/status/1527382341345509376
"We will be contacting the individual involved to provide the necessary information to file a complaint with the Office of the Independent Police Review Director," the statement from police added.
London News Today has reached out to Soyemi for additional comment on the matter.
She is expected to appear in court to respond to her charges on August 2, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEDFa-uPrlY&t=5s