The incident began when police officers raided local marijuana dispensary Sky High Collective last month. The dispensary owners, who had expected the raid beforehand, secretly installed video cameras around the facility.
Video footage from the incident surfaced on Thursday, showing a number of police officers busting into the facility, which was still busy with customers. Among the customers was Marla James, a local marijuana activist and amputee.
James said that her and her husband went to the dispensary after a tip-off they received from their attorney about the raid. As activists, the two had trained employees on how to behave in such a situation, and wanted to ensure that acted appropriately.
The 7-minute edited clip then shows the police officers standing alone in the facility, after the customers were asked to leave. Obviously unaware that they are being recorded, two officers, who have not yet been identified, begin making inappropriate remarks about the wheelchair-bound James.
A male officer is heard asking his female colleague if she punched "the one –legged Benita."
Laughing, the female colleague then responds with "I was about to kick her in her f**ing nub."
The video also shows the two officers disabling the visible video recorders and one officer eating a marijuana edible.
Santa Ana Police Chief Carlos Rojas has said that his department is looking into the incident. As part of this investigation, the police department also wants to review the full and unedited recording of the raid.
"We’re obviously concerned about the conduct we saw in the edited video," Department spokesman Chris Revere told KTLA-TV. "We’re also concerned that the video is heavily edited."
For her part, James was stunned by the exchange between the officers about her.
"You know, I was really nice to that woman," She later said about the female officer. "I even complimented her on her hair. I treated that woman with respect and I have no idea why she wanted to kick my stump."
