WATCH | LA police officer throws woman to ground, pepper-sprays her face in viral video

A video of a police officer throwing a woman on the ground and pepper spraying her face in Los Angeles, California has gone viral on social media.

An investigation has been launched into the incident and the officers have been taken off field duty, according to the county sheriff's department.

As per the video, the incident took place outside the WinCo grocery store on W Ave K 4 on June 24.

As per the statement released by the department, at that time, the deputies were apprehending a man and a woman for supposedlyshoplifting inside the store. "Why am I under arrest ... for what?" the man is heard saying in the bodycam footage. "You are not under arrest, you are being detained," responded the deputy.

"Detained for what?" the seemingly frustrated man asked. Another deputy said, "Calm down!"

The deputies, after placing the man in handcuffs, then walked towards the woman who was recording the incident on her mobile phone. She then yells, “No, you can't touch me!" as the deputies tryto grab her by the arm.

"Get down on the ground!" the deputy yells, as the woman replies, “It's already on YouTube live!" As the struggle continues, the deputy says, “Stop it or I'll punch you in the face." "You punch me, you're going to get sued,” the woman responded.

Then eventually the woman is pepper-sprayed and she further alleged that the deputy put his knee on her neck. She is heard saying, "I cannot breathe."

In another video, that surfaced on the internet, which seemingly was shot by a witness, the man being arrested can be heard saying, "Don't slam her down like that." He further claimed that the woman had cancer.

As per ABC7 reports, the attorney for the deputies, Tom Yu, said that the force was used because the woman did not cooperate.

"There's a narrative of saying, the deputies struck her down because she was recording,'' said Tom, according to ABC7. "She's not an innocent bystander. She's involved. She's detained in this robbery investigation."

After the incident, the department issued a statement saying, "The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has opened an investigation into this incident. While the Department does not make statements related to ongoing investigations, Sheriff Luna has made it clear that he expects Department personnel to treat all members of the public with dignity and respect, and that personnel who do not uphold our training standards will be held accountable. In the interest of transparency with our community, the Sheriff's Department is releasing body-worn camera video from the incident."

WATCH WION LIVE HERE