We already knew that Rochester, N.Y. cop Charles LoTiempo angrily charged and arrested an EMT, Lekia Smith, after her ambulance door grazed the vehicle he'd left parked in an ambulance lane—even though she was rushing a patient in for treatment. LoTiempo grabbed her, slammed her into the reception desk, then cuffed her. Thanks to the bodycam audio recorded by a nearby officer, we now know what happened next: he pushed her in his car, his bodycam muted, then slid in to give her another piece of his mind.
"You were being nasty right away," she tells him at one point. Smith accuses him abusing his power to which LoTiempo responds, "how was I abusing my power? You got to give me your license when the police tell you, if you don't, you get arrested. … Honestly, when I rolled down my window if you would have just been like my bad, I would have been like okay."
Smith maintained through the conversation she initially didn't realize her door had hit his car. "You was like, you lied and I was like no, I didn't realize I hit it," she says before LoTiempo admits it was a minor scuff. He then appears to try and smooth things over. "I really have a good relationship with all the EMTs and ambulances personnel, I feel like we have a mutual good relationship, I don't want that to be ruined over something like this ya know what I mean," he can be heard saying.
Kudos to WHEC for getting the scoop, but I'd like to point out that when a cop handcuffs you, shoves you in his car, turns off his bodycam audio, gets in with you, then says he'd hate for anything bad to happen, he is not really trying to smooth things over.
Update: LoTiempo has a history of substantiated misconduct, according to the Rochester City Newspaper. Lekia Smith is fortunate she still has her teeth.
