Handcuffed Woman Falls From Moving Patrol Car, Dies After Cops Failed To Close Rear Door

Sparta, Georgia -- A 28-year-old woman in Georgia who was arrested, handcuffed and transported inside a police patrol car, fell from the moving vehicle and died.

The woman fell out of the patrol car as deputies failed to securely close the door of the vehicle, authorities said Wednesday.

Brianna Marie Grier was arrested from her home in Sparta on July 15. Grier allegedly kicked the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office deputies while they were responding to a 911 call.

The call was placed by Grier's parents who complained that she was beating on their door. The woman, who had a history of mental illness, appeared to be drunk and refused to go to a hospital, police said.

Grier reportedly threatened to harm herself and refused to get into the vehicle, Star-Telegram reported. The cops handcuffed Grier in the front and carried her to the patrol car, placing her on the floor of the backseat, behind the driver’s side of the patrol car.

As the car moved, Grier fell out of the open door and suffered "significant injuries." She died in a hospital six days later, CBS News reported.

The mechanical tests of the vehicle and the body cam footage indicated that the rear side door of the patrol car near where Grier was sitting was never closed.

"The investigation shows that the deputy thought he closed the rear passenger side door," the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a news release.

According to the footage, the cops had no other contact with Grier from the time she was placed in the car until she fell out.

Meanwhile, Grier's family lawyer Ben Crump said in a statement Thursday that she was arrested during a "mental health crisis."

"Brianna Grier was a beautiful young mother who should still be alive. It is the responsibility of law enforcement to keep everyone in their custody safe and alive, including when there is a mental health crisis," Crump said.

Last month, a 36-year-old Black man from Connecticut was paralyzed from the neck down after hitting his head in a police vehicle while he was transported handcuffed without a seatbelt. Richard Cox, who was taken into custody on June 19, met with the tragic accident after the police vehicle he was traveling in made an abrupt stop to avoid hitting a car.