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Woman faces charges for punching York-Poquoson Sheriff’s deputy during traffic stop

Posted at 6:13 PM, Dec 03, 2014
and last updated 2014-12-03 18:29:18-05

The York-Poquoson Sheriff's office says a Newport News woman punched a deputy in the face after being pulled over for speeding.

Megan Lewis is facing eight charges, including DUI, child endangerment and simple assault of a police officer after the altercation on Saturday around 1 in the morning.

When Lewis was pulled over, she was initially just going to get a speeding ticket. But the situation escalated.

Two police cameras, one of which was a body camera, recorded the encounter. Deputies just started wearing the body cameras two weeks ago. The other camera was on the dash of the deputy's vehicle.

Though the Sheriff's Office said NewsChannel 3 could not copy the videos because of the pending court case, they did allow reporter Erica Greenway to view them.

"We've got nothing to hide. We want to be as transparent as we can," says York-Poquoson Sheriff J. D. “Danny” Diggs.

Megan Lewis

Megan Lewis

When Lewis was first stopped by the deputy for speeding, there were no problems. When the deputy suspects her of drinking, he starts a sobriety test with her still sitting in the car. At first, she complies. But when she was asked about10 times to step out of her car for more tests, she becomes agitated.

She asks the deputy if she has to comply and says it's outrageous and that she feels unsafe.

More deputies arrive and they eventually remove Lewis from the car. She resists and yells for the deputies not to touch her.

"I saw that those deputies acted appropriately. They acted with real compassion at some points. They never got agitated at all," says Sheriff Diggs.

The body camera recorded the entire encounter right up until they tried to get Lewis out of the car. At that point, there's a struggle and the camera is knocked off and goes black. You can hear what's happening but the remaining video comes from the deputy's dash camera.

As for the punch, the video shows a struggle and you can hear the deputy say he was hit, but the actual punch is unclear because it's dark outside.

At one point, Lewis is heard muttering, "That's York County, driving while black."

"Is that racially motivated or is that when you're under the influence of alcohol you say things you normally wouldn't say? So I'm not so much concerned with the race factor as I am getting the point out - people can save themselves a lot of trouble by just acting reasonably," says Sheriff Diggs.

Lewis refused to take a Breathalyzer test and also had a child in the car during the incident.

She's charged with Simple Assault on a Police Office, Refusing a Blood or Breath Test, Child Endangerment, Interfering with the Duties of a Police Officer, Disorderly Conduct, Driving with a Suspended or Revoked License, DUI and a Moving Violation.

We tried to contact Lewis in jail but she declined our request for an interview.