A police officer in Texas appeared to grope a woman's breast during a traffic stop
- In a video that trended on Tuesday, a police officer in Austin, Texas, appears to grope a woman's breasts while performing a search during a traffic stop.
- The woman can be heard in the video repeatedly demanding a female officer.
- The Austin Police Department said in a statement that the officer acted appropriately as the encounter was recorded and another officer was present.
- It said the officer was conducting a search before transporting the woman to jail in connection with "multiple hazardous traffic violations."
A video shared on social media this week appeared to show a male police officer in Austin, Texas, groping a woman's breasts while performing a search during a traffic stop.
In the video, which circulated Tuesday, the woman — whom police identified as Rosalinda Nuno Trevino — can be heard demanding a female officer as the male officer continues to search her in front of a parked police vehicle.
The Austin Police Department defended the officer's conduct in a statement published Tuesday.
It said the officer, who has not been publicly identified, told Trevino that a female officer wasn't available.
"He conducted the search in front of a police vehicle where a vehicle camera could document and at least one other officer was present, as required by APD policy," the statement read.
The statement said Trevino was arrested in connection with multiple traffic violations.
"Ms. Trevino was placed under arrest for the multiple hazardous traffic violations to include, running a red light, failure to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians, improper use of a horn, and failure to maintain an assured clear distance," the statement read.
The video sparked outrage on Twitter.
Several people accused the officer of sexual assault, and activists demanded that he lose his job.
The incident resembled a video that went viral last year in which an attorney for a woman in North Carolina subject to a search said a police pat-down "crossed the boundary into sexual assault," NBC affiliate WRAL reported.
Raleigh Chief of Police Cassandra-Deck said in a press conference that the "officer was absolutely professional in everything that he did," according to NBC News.