Mesa officers defend their actions in encounter with grandmother

MESA, Ariz. (KSAZ) - An East Valley grandmother was bruised and rushed to the hospital, after an encounter with Mesa Police last week.

On Wednesday, the department released body camera video of the incident. On Thursday, officers are defending their actions.

"The biggest goal was to get her out of out of what we believe was harm's way," said Officer Steve Berry.

The 84-year-old grandmother, however, ended up in a hospital bed with cuts and bruises.

"I think the average person anyone who watches it would go, 'this is a serious situation,'" said Berry, referring to the body cam video, which shows officers trying to pull the grandmother away from the home. They said she was trying to go back inside.

"That's where, obviously, the controversial part of the video starts, where the officer was pulling her, and ultimately, they end up on the ground," said Berry. "I can't tell you it's cause the officer forced her there or she loses her balance or otherwise."

Outrage pouring in from the family and the grandmother, who says she was forced to the ground, and she did not slip or lose her balance.

Officers were responding to the home after a mother called and said her son was threatening to shoot himself. She was not in town at the time, but she knew her mother, who has suffered 4 strokes, was. She expressed this in her 911 call. Now, police are trying to figure out how this grandmother ended up in this condition.

"Certainly that's something that we all want to know the goal to keep everybody safe," said Berry, who added that regardless of what the investigation reveals, they are looking into ways of how this could have been better handled.

"We've already reached out to some of our partners who deal with Alzheimer's Dementia to understand how to coax her out, to get her to feel more comfortable," said Berry.