Philadelphia Police Chief Will Fire Officer Who Punched Woman in Viral YouTube Video

Oct 4, 2012
11:56 AM

Just days after a YouTube video showing a Philadelphia police officer punching a woman gained over 1 million views, Philly.com is reporting that the officer, Lt. Jonathan Josey, will be fired for his actions.

Aida Guzman, public photo taken from Facebook

Here is an excerpt from today's Philly.com story:

The Philadelphia police officer who was captured on video punching a woman in the face will be fired.

Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said today that he had issued a direct-action dismissal, an immediate step that commissioners can take if they have evidence that an officer has violated departmental policies or the law.

Lt. Jonathan Josey, 39, is a decorated 19-year veteran of the department who has been praised by some colleagues even after the video emerged. He declined to comment. As of Thursday, he is suspended for a month with the intent to dismiss.

The original video has garnered over 1 million YouTube views, but the owner of the YouTube channel has disabled the embed option, The following embed comes from another YouTube channel: