A video that drew national attention last year of a young woman being repeatedly punched by Wildwood police officers is now the subject of a federal lawsuit that alleges the cops “brutally and senselessly assaulted” the 20-year-old and then falsely claimed she kicked the officers to secure an indictment.

Emily Weinman, of Philadelphia, filed the lawsuit in federal court in New Jersey Monday against the city of Wildwood, class II police officers Thomas Cannon and Robert Jordan and Lt. Kenneth Gallagher. The lawsuit is the latest chapter in an incident that was shared worldwide and put the officers, and the popular Jersey Shore town, under intense public scrutiny.

“The city of Wildwood put my client through hell for the past year and a half. Now it’s their time in the barrel," said attorney Jennifer Bonjean. “The beach officers acted totally unreasonable when they assaulted my client."

“What may be worse is that their supervisors made false statements under oath to secure indictable offenses against my client that had no merit,” Bonjean added. “Civil liabilities should be the least of their worries.”

Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano, Jr. said he was unaware of the lawsuit when contacted Monday, but he called it “frivolous."

“They are going to make all kinds of allegations," he said. "They are going to do everything they can to paint her as an angel. Bottom-line, we will let it play out. It’s a money grab. That’s all it is.”

“It’s your typical scenario today," he added. "Cops are wrong. Cops are all wrong. She will walk away with something, even though she was wrong because it is easier to settle than it is to fight.”

According to the lawsuit, Weinman went to Wildwood beach May 26, 2018 with her boyfriend, her 18-month-old child and a female friend to celebrate the holiday weekend. Shortly after 4 p.m. Cannon and Jordan were patrolling the beach and stopped to question Weinman and her friend after they noticed unopened alcoholic beverages near her, the lawsuit says.

Weinman, according to the lawsuit, told the officers she was not drinking and consented to a breathalyzer test, which showed she had not been drinking.

The lawsuit claims Cannon directed Weinman to contact the owner of the alcohol and return to where she was sitting. When Weinman walked away to make a phone call, Cannon asked Jordan to grab her and return her to where she was sitting.

The officers then continued to question the two women and when Weinman refused to give her last name to the officers, Cannon said he was “done with her” and began to “aggressively” march toward her, according to the lawsuit.

“Don’t touch me,” Weinman says, according to body camera footage.

Cannon then told Weinman she was “about to get dropped,” and he soon “violently” threw her to the ground, according to the lawsuit.

The video shows Cannon striking Weinman and pushing her head into the sand.

According to the lawsuit, both officers allegedly also physically assaulted Weinman by twisting her arms, pulling her hair and choking her by firmly pressing a forearm against her throat that hindered her breathing. The officers are repeatedly telling Weinman to “stop resisting!”

“You’re choking me,” Weinman tells the cops. ... “I cannot breathe!”

Weinman was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstruction of justice.

But after initially charging her with the disorderly offenses, the lawsuit claims that once the the two officers became aware that the arrest, which garnered national attention, could make them liable, they allegedly exaggerated how much Weinman resisted in order to “to justify their unreasonable and excessive use of force,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims Cannon falsely wrote that Weinman had struck and kicked him and had kicked Jordan in his genitalia. In a complaint summons, Cannon also allegedly wrote that Weinman appeared to be under the influence of drugs and alcohol, even though a breathalyzer indicated she had not been drinking and she had not acted in a manner consistent with being under the influence, according to the lawsuit.

Lt. Gallagher, according to the lawsuit, allegedly gave false testimony to a grand jury repeating the claims of Weinman’s forceful resistance, according to the lawsuit. Weinman was subsequently charged with two counts of aggravated assault, throwing bodily fluids in the third degree, resisting arrest in the third degree, and hindering apprehension in the fourth degree.

She pleaded guilty to a single disorderly conduct charge in February and was banned from Wildwood for one year.

“I’m just happy that it’s over and everybody can move on,” Weinman told the judge during her guilty plea hearing, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. She also admitted to cursing at the officers, the newspaper reported.

Less than two weeks after the incident, the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office announced that the officers would not face criminal charges for their conduct.

Both officers were class II officers, which are seasonal positions that Jersey Shore towns regularly hire for the busy summer months. The officers get the same basic training as regular officers and are authorized to exercise full police powers and duties similar to those of a permanent officer. Cannon and Jordan were put on administrative leave shortly after the incident pending an internal investigation.

Their current employment status with Wildwood is unclear. The two officers could not be immediately reached for comment.

Joe Atmonavage may be reached at jatmonavage@njadvancemedia.com. Follow on Twitter @monavage.

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