A 19-year-old woman has detailed the violence and horror she experienced when police in California mistook her for a male suspect. 

The NAACP in Bakersfield, California, posted a video to its Facebook in which Tatyana Hargrove spoke about an encounter with police officers where she allegedly was held at gunpoint, punched, and bitten by a police K-9.

According to the Bakersfield Californian, Hargrove was approached by officers on Father’s Day when she was trying to get a present. Hargrove was taking a break from riding her bike and getting a drink of water when three police cars approached and cops told her to put her hands above her head.  

Hargrove said officers demanded to see her backpack, and when she asked them for a warrant, they pointed out their K9 dog to her. Hargrove said she got scared and gave them her backpack, but that at that point the officer grabbed her by the wrist and neck and punched her and threw her on the ground. At that point, she said, the K-9 dog bit her.

Hargrove says that one officer put his knee in her back and another knee on her head.

“I told him, ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe,’ and then I started yelling out, ‘Somebody help, somebody help me, they’re gonna kill me!’” she said.

Bakersfield police say they mistook the 5-foot-2, 115-pound Hargrove, for a suspect who was described as being a 25- to 30-year-old bald man with a goatee, who stands at around 5-foot-10 and weighing 170 pounds.

It wasn’t until Hargrove was in the back of the police car that officers realized she was a woman.

Ultimately, the teen was arrested on suspicion of resisting or delaying an officer and aggravated assault on an officer.

Arresting Officer Christopher Moore wrote in a report, “appeared to be a male and matched the description of the suspect that had brandished a machete and was also within the same complex the suspect had fled to.”

Moore accused Hargrove of ignoring police commands and putting her feet on her bike pedals, appearing as if “she was going to flee.”

However, Hargrove’s account disputes the officers claim that she attempted to knock down or fight an officer.

BPD Sgt. Ryan Kroeker said the criminal charges have been filed against Hargrove were forwarded to the Kern County District Attorney’s office for review. The department has determined the force used was appropriate, and no internal investigation has been launched, Kroeker added.

The actual suspect police were looking for, Douglas Washington, 24, was arrested the next day and remains in jail.