Stephanie Bottom is a 68-year-old black woman who is suing the North Carolina police for using excessive force during a traffic stop in May 2019. Bottom was listening to music while driving to her auntie funeral during the time and didn’t realize that the police were trying to stop her. Once she found a safe spot to pull over after noticing the police the police rushed towards her with their guns drawn.
The body cam footage shows Stephanie Bottom, a Georgia librarian who was 66 years old at the time being dragged out of her vehicle by her hair, thrown on the ground and roughly handcuffed on the side of the road. She was charged with speeding going 80 mph in a 70 mph area and failing to heed blue lights. Bottom is seen in the video crying and pleading for help saying she’s in pain, she has an injured shoulder, and her ligament is torn but is ignored by police. The body cam footage also shows Bottom saying “I didn’t know you guys were chasing after me I was listening to my music” after one cop told her that she refused to stop for law enforcement and denying her the right to call her family.
Bottom is an elderly black woman who was surrounded by a group of all white cops during the time of traffic stop. The incident took place in Salisbury, North Carolina in 2019 but the video footage of the incident has just been released after Bottom recently sued the police claiming “excessive force” for the way she was treated during the stop. All charges against her were dismissed.
NNV News Blog Writer Sister Tynnetta R. Muhammad
