Woman hit by officer hospitalized

Rookie Jacksonville police officer charged with battery, fired on Thursday

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The 31-year-old woman shown on video being struck multiple times by a rookie Jacksonville police officer while awaiting booking into jail spoke to News4Jax from the hospital, saying she was "extremely mortified by the whole thing."

On Thursday, Akinyemi Borisade, 26, was arrested on a charge of battery and fired by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. Police also released the video showing Borisade hitting Mayra Martinez Wednesday afternoon while she was handcuffed just outside the jail.

Sheriff Mike Williams said the jail surveillance video was key to making a quick determination of the facts, and the additional video that surfaced is also being reviewed.

"We made our decision based on what we saw on the jail video and, obviously, that first video gives me a lot of concerns, as well," Williams said. "There is an investigation going on now surrounding the first video."

UNCUT: Sheriff on officer striking prisoner | New video of officer hitting woman

What Williams called the first video, with a Wednesday time stamp, appears to be shot by a dashboard camera in a parking lot in front of Scores, an adult club on University Boulevard at Philips Highway. That's the same day and location where Martinez was arrested and charged with trespassing and resisting police.

Martinez texted photos to the I-TEAM -- including one that was taken just outside Scores, where she was starting a new job. According to the police report, they were called to the bar to escort her from the property because she was drunk and belligerent after quitting work on her first day. 

"I am a yoga teacher. I utilize the bar industry to help me make ends meet, and I want and need that known," Martinez texted. "I am extremely mortified by the whole thing, and especially the type of person I'm being made to look."

News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith, a former JSO officer, reviewed the dashcam video.

"As the camera comes closer to the two police officers, they already have her on the ground," Smith said. "They said that she's biting them, but I really can't tell that from the video because the video's not great quality. And that's one thing about video, you're not always going to get the full picture. He mentions that she's fighting, that's she's biting, and he says, 'We have to strike her in the back several times,' and that's consistent with the report."

According to the arrest report, Martinez continued to kick and fight in the patrol car and was placed in more restraints, the report said. She resisted their efforts to handcuff her and tried to kick and bite the officers, the report said.

While waiting to be booked into the jail, Martinez can be seen on the video kicking Borisade in the leg, and Borisade retaliates by hitting her several times.

Corrections officers who witnessed the incident reported it to their supervisors, and the JSO Integrity Unit investigated it.

In the jail video released by the JSO, the corrections officers stand and watch before one steps forward and puts his hand on Borisade. 

Defense attorney John Phillips, who is not involved in the case, told News4Jax that no matter what happened before the video was taken, all of the officers present could be investigated.

"All of it is breach of her federal civil rights," Phillips said. "Not just for the officer who hit her, but those standing around. You can't just let the rights of someone be breached, and stand by idly and watch it."

Phillips also said that because both incidents were caught on camera, all the more reason to push for police body cameras.

"Are they going to move that video camera? Are they going to learn and not do that in front of that camera anymore? But thank God for it. It tells us what's really going on," Phillips said. 

Undersheriff Pat Ivey said that because Borisade is a probationary officer, he can't appeal his firing, but he can ask for a name-clearing hearing with JSO. If he passes that he would regain the ability to be an officer with another agency.

This is not Borisade's first brush with the law. In 2008, when he was 19 years old, reports show he took items into a dressing room from a store at the Regency Square Mall and came out without them and tried to leave the store without paying. The report shows he admitted to doing it. He later pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor property crime.

According to JSO's website, officers can't have been convicted of any felony, or misdemeanors involving false statement, perjury or domestic violence.


About the Authors:

Jim Piggott is the reporter to count on when it comes to city government and how it will affect the community.