Ulster Police Use Excessive Force in Arrest of Nursing Aide

Photo: Video still shot

On Monday, December 28, around 3:45 p.m., 26-year-old Shana Shaw, a Black woman, was picking up food when she was unlawfully arrested in Buffalo Wild Wings' parking lot on Ulster Avenue in the Town of Ulster, New York.

The arrest was caught on video and shows Ulster County Deputy Sheriff Brian Woltman Jr., son of Ulster County Legislator Brian Woltman, aggressively dragging Ms. Shaw out of her vehicle and onto the ground where she was accosted by Woltman and another male officer in between cars, partially out of view of the camera person.

Deputy Sheriff Woltman never asked Ms. Shaw for her driver's license and vehicle registration. In the video, Woltman Jr and another deputy are seen kneeled over, restraining Ms. Shaw and threatening to tase her; they tell her to stop resisting, and she screams "I'm not resisting" twice before the video ends.

Deputy Sheriff Brian Woltman Jr. used excessive force that resulted in Ms. Shaw getting a concussion, nerve damage in her wrist from the handcuffs, bruises on her body, putting her out of work for days.

This past May, a formal complaint was filed against Deputy Sherrif Woltman Jr., accusing him of false detention and using excessive force against another woman, Katherine Bradley.

Ms. Shaw intends to join Ms. Bradley in a suit against Ulster County and Deputy Sheriff Woltman Jr. for violating their Civil Rights.