Woman seen struggling with officer in video charged with public intoxication, resisting arrest

The woman seen taken into police custody in a viral video on social media has been charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest, police said Thursday.

Police arrested 35-year-old Virginia Gonzalez Wednesday afternoon outside the 7-Eleven at 9052 Alameda.

Police said a Mission Valley officer was working an unrelated traffic stop on the 100 block of South Zaragoza when a concerned motorist stopped to pass along information of a woman in the roadway who banged on the driver’s side window of his vehicle.

The motorist left, but later returned to the scene of the original traffic stop to let the officer know Gonzalez was at the 7-Eleven nearby.

The officer completed the traffic stop, proceeded to the 7-Eleven and located a woman fitting the physical description provided by the witness.

“While placing Gonzalez under arrest for the Public Intoxication offense, she assaulted the officer and resisted the officer while being arrested by striking him in the face,” police said in a news release.

A Facebook live video of the incident shows a police officer holding on to the woman outside the convenience store. The officer and a man nearby are heard asking the frantic woman to calm down. The woman is seen screaming and crying as she struggled with the officer.

Eventually, more officers arrived at the scene and took Gonzalez into custody. She was booked into the El Paso County Jail on bonds totaling $857.

“The El Paso Police Department is aware that a video of this incident was placed on social media. At this time, it appears that the officer used the necessary force to effect the arrest,” police said in a news release.