In today’s episode of Police Be Lying Everyday, And Every Day, Police Be Lying, a high school student from San Bernardino, Calif., is suing a police officer for violently slamming her on the ground, and then lying about the circumstances under which he did it.
According to NBC 4 Los Angeles, 18-year-old Erin Marie Cowser announced earlier this month that she filed a lawsuit against San Bernardino Police Department Officer Jackson Tubbs, Officer Cynthia Guillen and the city, following her May 21, 2025 arrest. The victim says she was slammed onto the ground by Tubbs, causing a concussion, traumatic brain injury and several lacerations to her face, according to the lawsuit.
And, surprise, surprise, it’s another incident in which it appears that video footage contradicts what officers said happened.
From NBC 4:
According to the lawsuit, San Bernardino police officers were initially called to a report of kids fighting at a Food 4 Less grocery store. The complaint states that Tubbs walked up to Cowser, grabbed her by her backpack, pulled her over to the patrol car and threw her to the ground.
Video captured on a cellphone and body camera footage worn by Guillen recorded the arrest.
“A hip toss that flipped Erin in the air, her legs flying over her head, and she landed face-first, head-first on the concrete,” Toni Jaramillo, one of Cowser’s attorneys, said. “And what’s even worse was that he had her cuffed, her hands cuffed behind her back, so she had no way to brace herself.”
Cowser and her lawyers said she did nothing to prompt the officer’s actions.
They say the then-high school senior was inside the grocery store with friends when another group of young people confronted them. The plaintiff said she was attacked by the group and as she left the store, Tubbs appeared to approach her directly.
Atlanta Black Star reported that San Bernardino police initially claimed Tubbs — who, by the way, shot and killed a man in 2023 over a vehicle code violation in a case that resulted in a lawsuit and $4.9 million settlement last year after San Bernardino cops were accused of planting a gun said to be tossed by the victim — used a “takedown maneuver” on Cowser because she was resisting arrest, pulling away from the officer after he had only one of her wrists cuffed. But that was before the video footage of the arrest surfaced, and showed Tubbs grabbing the then-17-year-old from behind by her SpongeBob SquarePants backpack, and moving to arrest her with no explanation.
In fact, according to Cowser’s attorney, Toni J. Jaramilla, the alleged fight that the police responded to was over before they even arrived. Jaramilla said it all started with an altercation between two groups of teenagers at a Food 4 Less grocery store. She said it was her client who was attacked by the other group of teens before a security guard broke up the fight by pepper-spraying them, causing them all to disperse before any officers got to the scene.
From Atlanta Black Star:
Cowser was standing outside the store talking with friends when she was snatched by Tubbs, who slammed the 110-pound girl like a rag doll.
“Don’t grab her like that,” said a young man recording as the cop was holding her hands behind her back, seconds before he slammed her to the ground.
“Hey, b_tch ass n_gga!” yelled the young man recording who is friends with Cowser.
The friend then turns to another cop and asks for his badge number, but that cop extended his baton, ordering him to “back up” as Cowser cried out in pain.
Cowser, now 18, told local media the last thing she remembers before losing consciousness was the cop telling her to “stop resisting” – but that phrase is frequently stated by cops whether the suspect is resisting or not.
“Then I woke up, I was in the back of the cop car on the freeway. And I looked down, and I seen a bunch of blood on my body, and my chin was still leaking,” she said.
“And he had my phone in his hand, and I looked up, and I asked him, I said, ‘What happened to me? Like, what’d you do to me?’ He was like, ‘You fell.’ And then it went black again.”
According to the lawsuit, Tubbs picked Cowser up and “dropped her face-first onto the metal floor sill of his patrol car.” The suit also accuses officers of lying about how Cowser’s injuries were caused, saying they were the result of her fight with the other teens, not a violent and volatile cop slamming her on her head. Once again, the video footage contradicts that claim.
Cowser was charged with trespassing and attempting to fight other juveniles, but those charges were eventually dismissed.
It’s unclear if famed civil attorney Ben Crump is involved in Cowser’s case at all, but he did post about the incident on X over the weekend.
This case is just another reminder that cops have all the same incentive to be dishonest to avoid justice and accountability that civilians have. It’s also a reminder that they don’t protect and serve everyone in their communities equally.
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