Springfield Police Officer Criminally Charged After Tasering Pregnant Woman

A Springfield police officer is facing criminal charges after body camera footage showed he used a taser on a pregnant woman four times.

Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni filed a criminal complaint against officer Leon Davis, 35, of Springfield, for his actions during the September arrest of a woman at a local hotel.

Davis went to the Tower Square hotel to respond to a report of guest who was refusing to leave and threatening hotel employees, according to the DA's office.

After struggling to enter the room, the body camera footage shows officer Davis using a stun gun to get inside. Once he enters, the woman is seen crouched in a corner with her hands up. She apologizes and says "please don't" and "I'm pregnant."

Davis used the stun gun four times. The DA says the woman was docile and compliant throughout the incident.

“The evidence shows that this officer’s actions are clearly outside of his training, as they were punitive and grossly excessive, and therefore criminal," DA Gulluni said. "This type of conduct has no place in policing and police officers who engage in abusive and excessive uses of force must be identified and immediately re-trained or fired.

"As we have seen here and across the country, this kind of misconduct undermines the trust that the community must have in its police departments and serves to sully and frustrate the work and reputation of the many good police officers who make up the vast majority of those departments.”

Davis is charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon against a pregnant victim

He's scheduled to be arraigned April 5.