Caught on camera: Trooper filmed 'brutally beating woman on side of California highway' but authorities say it was for her own 'protection'

Motorist filmed a California Highway Patrol officer chasing a woman and then beating her at least 11 times in the head on Tuesday

She puts up her hands to protect herself but does not appear to resist



The CHP later said that the officer had asked the woman to stop but she did not - so he stopped her for her own safety

The motorist, David Diaz, said it was 'obviously excessive force'



A California trooper has been filmed brutally beating a woman on the side of a highway - but authorities claimed he simply stopped her for her own safety.



A passing motorist recorded the unidentified C alifornia High way Patrol officer as he punched the woman at least 11 times in the head along the 10 Freeway in Los Angeles on Tuesday.



On the video uploaded to YouTube, the woman can be seen trying to protect herself by putting up her hands but she does not appear to resist the trooper.

'The most animalistic, most brutal way to subdue someone is to pound someone's head into the concrete with really big blows to the head,' witness David Diaz told ABC7.

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Chase: A California Highway Patrol officer can be seen chasing a woman and then forcing her to the ground



Struggle: A motorist filmed while the officer climbed on top of the woman and proceeded to punch her

'There was no weapons - it's obviously excess force,' he continued. 'He starts really letting loose... He starts pounding down on her face really hard. He doesn't try to grab her hands first.'

The video captured on Diaz's cell phone shows him slowing down for a traffic stop as a woman can be seen heading towards the median on the freeway.

The officer approaches her before he forces her to the ground and pins her down, repeatedly hitting her while Diaz and his fellow car passengers gasp in horror.

Eventually another man - later identified by the CHP as a plain clothes officer - approaches the trooper and helps handcuff the woman.



Attack: The motorist said he saw the trooper hit her as many as 15 times with hard blows to the head

Speaking to ABC7, the CHP said the officer had ordered the woman to stop walking but she ignored him and fearing she would be hurt, the officer tried placing her under arrest.

'A physical altercation ensued as the pedestrian continued to resist arrest, at which point a plain clothes, off duty officer assisted in applying the handcuffs,' the CHP said in the statement.

The CHP added that the woman refused to give her name and she was booked as 'Jane Doe' and taken to a local hospital for mental and physical evaluation.

Outrage: David Diaz, who filmed the altercation on his cell phone, said it was a clear use of excessive form

But Diaz said he was not convinced the use of force was appropriate.

'He just pounded her,' he told CBSLA. 'If you look at the video, there are 15 hits. To the head, and not just simple jabs. These are blows to the head. Blows. Really serious blows. And this is ridiculous to me.'