Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter extended a personal apology to the woman who was “cold-cocked” by Philadelphia Police Lt. Jonathan Josey in an incident that was captured on a cellphone video and gained national notoriety this week, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports The woman, Aida Guzman, 39, was “injured and humiliated at the hands of someone who knows better, or should have known better,” said Nutter, who said he watched the YouTube video 20 times. “Every time I look at it, I am appalled, I am sickened, and I am ashamed on behalf of the good men and women of the Philadelphia Police Department,” the mayor said at a news conference with Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey.
Nutter supported Ramsey’s decision to fire Josey. Josey is a 19-year veteran of the department who was assigned to the Highway Patrol Unit. John McNesby, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, has said that the union would appeal the decision and that he was optimistic that Josey would get his job back. Ramsey said it was possible Josey could face criminal count. Josey’s punch bloodied Guzman’s face and knocked her to the ground, hard. The incident was captured in a video recorded during a raucous, crowded celebration of the city’s annual Puerto Rican Day Parade.