FORT WORTH – Fort Worth police and city leaders are investigating an officer’s alleged use of force against a YouTuber after a video she took during own arrest went viral.
Carolyn Rodriguez, whose YouTube page features dozens of interactions with police officers, was arrested and hospitalized Sunday after filming police at the scene of a car crash.
The hit-and-run crash happened around 3:30 a.m. Sunday on Foch Street in the popular West 7th District, according to the Fort Worth Police Department. A suspected drunk driver crashed into another vehicle and a building before running from the scene.
Police say Rodriguez approached officers with her camera as they were investigating the crash. According to Rodriguez’s YouTube page, she records officers to raise awareness about what she calls “the out-of-control criminal justice system.”
In her video from early Sunday, which has over 78,000 views, an officer can be heard telling Rodriguez multiple times to go to the other side of the street or she will be arrested. Rodriguez asked the officer why she had to move, and was then arrested.