Urbana Police Beat Unarmed Woman for “Arguing with Officers”

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4 years ago

Arrest & Beating of Urbana Resident Aleyah Lewis (Police: Sgts James Cory Koker & Michael Cervantes)

On April 10^th, 2020, a video of Urbana Police Officers physically assaulting an unarmed woman, Aleyah Lewis, surfaced on social media. Within two days, the video received tens of thousands of views and thousands of comments by concerned citizens.

Around 4:30pm on April 10th, Urbana Police Officers responded to reports of a man and woman arguing outside an apartment at East Colorado Ave. The man, Kamarion Busby allegedly fired a gun. Busby was arrested and taken into custody without incident. The video, taken by a witness from a nearby apartment building, shows Lewis visibly upset and trying to talk to the police officers. Lewis was at least 30 feet from the nearest squad car and at least 45 feet from where the arrest was taking place, not interfering with the officers arresting Busby.

An officer appears to say to Lewis, “If you don’t walk away, you’re going to go to jail.” Lewis starts to walk away, but Sergeant Michael P Cervantes starts running and walking quickly towards her. He then grabs her arm and tackles her to the ground. Seconds later, Officer Eric L Ruff, armed with an assault rifle runs towards Lewis, who is already pinned on the ground. He joins in straddling her on the ground, then delivers a blow to her head, his assault rifle swinging haphazardly in his left hand. Lewis appears to be in pain and trying to defend herself. Within seconds, a third police officer, Sergeant James Cory Koker joins in the tag-team assault. A fourth police officer, Officer Raymond L Rich, armed with an assault rifle strides towards Lewis, who is pinned down by the three men and hovers over them. Lewis is eventually dragged into a squad car.

According to Urbana Police Lieutenant David G Smysor, the arrest was necessary because Lewis “began arguing with officers”. From the A.R.M.S. report, Lewis was charged with aggravated battery to a peace officer and resisting arrest. Lewis was held in lieu of $20,000 bond. The reporting officer on scene was listed as Oliver R Marquez.

This incident generated much outrage among citizens. In the thousands of comments on social media accompanying the video, citizens voiced concerns about the excessive use of force on an unarmed woman, the use of military style assault weapons, the brutal beating she was subjected to, the rapid escalation, rather than de-escalation of the situation, and the charges brought upon Lewis.

UPDATE: a second video has been produced by another bystander, which more closely shows the arrest: