Officer Carri Carrico of the Buckeye Police Department was placed on leave nearly seven months after the alleged assault
Credit: Buckeye AZ Police Department/Facebook
NEED TO KNOW
- Officer Carri Carrico faces aggravated assault charges for two separate use-of-force incidents, including one involving a pregnant woman
- Security footage shows Carrico allegedly punching the handcuffed woman, who was nine months pregnant at the time, in the head
- Carrico’s supervisor allegedly called her behavior “very aggressive”
An Arizona police officer has been criminally charged after she allegedly beat and punched a pregnant woman late last year.
Carri Carrico, an officer with the Buckeye Police Department, was charged in May with aggravated assault in connection with two separate use-of-force incidents, Buckeye Police Chief Robert Sanders said in a statement at the time.
Carrico has since been placed on unpaid leave nearly seven months after allegedly assaulting the nine-month-pregnant woman, who had been arrested for alleged reckless driving on Nov. 1, 2025, according to a probable cause statement shared online by NPR and reviewed by PEOPLE.
Citing security footage and body camera footage, the statement alleges when trying to restrain the woman, who was handcuffed behind her back, Carrico allegedly "pulled out her right hand and punched on the right side of the face with her right hand."
The woman then tried to grab her hand when Carrico allegedly "shoved" her, per the statement. Investigators said there was no indication the woman assaulted Carrico.
In security footage obtained by ABC 13, the officer, alleged to be Carrico, is seen motioning the woman to take a seat; the woman complies. The footage cuts to where the officer abruptly, and seemingly unprompted, pushes the woman against the wall, then shoves her into a corner before she swings the woman out of the corner.
Once she seats the woman, whose shirt is moved up exposing her pregnant stomach, Carrico is seen punching the woman in the head.
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The pregnant woman allegedly suffered a contusion in the incident and told police she had scratches and bruises on her body, ABC 13 reported.
Carrico allegedly told investigators she had "reverted" to her training when she behaved that way, according to the outlet. Her supervisor wrote in an internal memo, also cited by ABC 13, that said Carrico's behavior was "very aggressive."
The Buckeye Police Department did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comments.
Carrico has pleaded not guilty, ABC 13 reported.
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