Friday, March 20, 2015 | 2 a.m.
A Metro Police officer who has been charged with misdemeanor battery appears to slam a woman's head into his patrol vehicle multiple times, drop her on the ground and touch her breast in body-worn camera footage, according to a declaration of warrant/summons.
The March 12 report, which was released Thursday, says Officer Richard Scavone approached the woman early Jan. 6 in front of the Hampton Inn Hotel at 4975 Dean Martin Drive, near Tropicana Avenue.
Scavone, accompanied by a Metro corrections officer taking part in a ride-along, believed the woman was lifting her dress up and flashing her private parts in a high-prostitution area, according to the report.
The woman denied exposing herself and said she was waiting for someone to arrive from the Aria in a later statement to police.
Scavone spoke to the woman through the passenger side window, and she grew irritated, throwing a cup of coffee on the ground, police said.
According to a statement by Scavone, the woman began "screaming and cursing."
Scavone approached the woman with a Taser and grabbed her hands, ordering her to put her palms together, the report said.
Scavone said in a statement that the woman turned her back to officers, a statement police said was refuted by the corrections officer.
When she asked how she could put her palms together if he had her hands, Scavone threatened to "dump (her) on the floor" and handcuffed her, the report said.
He then told her to spread her feet, and when she replied, "My feet are straight," he grabbed the back of her neck and threw her on the ground, according to the report.
The woman cursed and told him to take her to jail, and Scavone struck her face with an open hand before grabbing her left shoulder and dragging her several feet away from his vehicle to get her on her stomach, the report said.
Scavone asked the woman if she was "finished fighting" him, the report said.
The corrections officer and Scavone picked the woman up and walked her back to the vehicle, where Scavone grabbed her elbow and reached for her necklace, police said.
When she turned away, he slammed her head twice on the patrol car, police said.
He reportedly told her not to pull away from him and reached inside her dress, pulling out a condom and a cellphone, the report said.
Scavone said in his statement he retrieved the items, which were in the area near her breast and armpit, at least partially for officer safety because they could have been weapons, police said.
The woman, who was not wearing a bra, told Scavone multiple times not to touch her breast, and Scavone pinched her right breast through her dress before removing an undisclosed item from inside the dress, police said.
Police did not find any weapons on the woman, the report said.
Scavone accused the woman of reaching for something, and he grabbed her ponytail and slammed her head on the patrol vehicle again, police said.
He pulled her ponytail as he pushed her head against the vehicle, and she screamed, the report said.
He led her to the back seat of the patrol vehicle while holding her ponytail and slammed her into the passenger window, police said.
"You resisted and fought me," he told the woman, according to the report.
Police said in an analysis of Scavone's statement that there is no video evidence the woman tried to reach into her bra to grab something, though the corrections officer told police she did try to reach "up and into her bra," police said.
Her right cheek was bleeding, and she suffered bruising and lacerations to her face, police said.
An ambulance was called, police said.
She was taken to the Clark County Detention Center on charges of littering, resisting arrest and loitering for the purposes of prostitution, the report said.
Scavone instructed the corrections officer to wipe the hood of the car off, but the blood from the woman's face had already dried, police said.
She filed a complaint Jan. 12 with the Internal Affairs Bureau, the report said.
Judge Ann E. Zimmerman issued a summons Wednesday, according to court records.
Scavone is expected to be arraigned in court 8 a.m. April 15.
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