The former Philadelphia police officer who punched a woman in an incident that was caught on video is getting his job back.
Lieutenant Jonathan Josey will be reinstated to his post on the police force and will get all the pay he is entitled to from between now and when he was fired last September.
A now-infamous video that went viral is what sparked it all. The video allegedly shows Josey slugging a woman who he thought had sprayed beer on police officers after the Puerto Rican Day Parade.
Josey was later acquitted in court of assault charges, and the Fraternal Order of Police appealed his dismissal to an arbitrator.
A hearing was held in June, and that arbitrator has now issued an 18-page decision in Josey's favor.
The arbitrator says a frame-by-frame review of the video supports Josey's claims.
He testified that Aida Guzman refused his order to drop a bottle of beer she was holding. He says he was trying to swat the bottle out of her hand when her left foot went out from under her as she stepped on a can. Guzman fell to the street, and the arbitrator ruled that's what caused her bloody lip, not a punch in the face.
Commissioner Ramsey is disappointed with the ruling, but says he has to accept it and return Lt. Josey to the police force.
"I have no regrets about the action I took at the time this took place," said Ramsey. "The decision has been rendered, and I'll abide by it."
Aida Guzman, the alleged victim, and her attorney spoke to reporters outside her home in Chester, Pa. She is disappointed with the arbitrator's finding, and her attorney, Enrique Latoison, says it sends a terrible message to everyone else.
"This gives them free reign to continue to do what they're doing," Latoison said. "Because even when you're caught on video, you can still find a way to get away with that, and you still send a very, very scary message to all the citizens out there."
Lt. Josey was unavailable for comment Monday.
His attorney says he worked a lifetime to get where he was, and it was all destroyed in just 3 seconds. He says Josey is now looking forward to resuming his career.