L.A. - Handcuffed woman falls from moving LAPD patrol car

A woman is suing police officers after she fell out of a moving patrol car while handcuffed, shattering her jaw and suffering brain bleeding, it was revealed today.

Kim Nguyen, 28, filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department claiming that she was ejected from a moving patrol car.

Nguyen  was arrested for public intoxication outside a Koreatown restaurant in Los Angeles in March and handcuffed.

Nguyen, a business student at Loyola Marymount University, says she was ejected from the car in the early hours of March 17, but doesn't remember how.

She told the LA Times this week that she cannot remember the fall and said she would not have tried to open the door as she was in handcuffs.

In an incident report, paramedics reported that police said Nguyen fell as they accelerated after an intersection stop.

Surveillance video doesn't show Nguyen being ejected, but shows her lying in the street afterward with her face bruised and bloodied.

Nguyen says that she shattered her jaw and had brain bleeding. She has had three surgeries on her jaw and lost several teeth.

The 28-year-old's lawsuit sues the two officers involved in her arrest and the city of Los Angeles for unspecified damages over negligence. 

Police patrol cars are fitted with special locks that prevent prisoners from falling or jumping out during transit.

The LA Times names the officers involved as David Shin, a three-year veteran of the force, and Jin Oh, who has been a cop since 2008.

LAPD Cmdr. Andy Smith said he does not know if an internal investigation has begun but one would be conducted.

Following the 28-year-old's arrest in the early hours of March 17, the two officers placed her in the back seat of their marked patrol car in handcuffs.

According to surveillance footage seen by Nguyen's lawyer Arnoldo Casillas, the car can be seen crossing an intersection before several seconds later, Nguyen is seen lying in the street, bloodied but still in cuffs.

According to a paramedic report, the police officers said they were traveling at 10mph when the prisoner fell on to the road. However, the surveillance appears to capture the car traveling at a faster speed.