Woman reportedly beaten by Camden County deputy speaks out, hires national civil rights attorney

CAMDEN COUNTY, Ga. — The woman seen being screamed at, punched and yanked while handcuffed is sharing her story for the first time. It was a traffic stop turned nightmare for Charis Faria, who was pulled over for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign in January 2022. About a year-and-a-half later, she’s speaking out and hired a national civil rights attorney to defend her as Action News Jax has learned they plan on filing a lawsuit, taking legal action.

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The police report says Camden County Sheriff’s Office deputy Christine Newman realized that Faria has a suspended license and asked her to step out of the car. When Faria asked her to call a supervisor, she said that’s when things took a turn.

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“Who do you call when you’re getting beat up by the police and everybody is standing around watching?” Faria said.

Backup arrived and they hit her front bumper, from there deputy Newman can be seen in dashcam video reaching into the truck and yanking Faria to the pavement.

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“I saw the supervisor there and I just said, ‘you got to get her away from me she’s going to kill me’,” Faria said.

Faria was tased, handcuffed, and then punched twice and the deputy grabbed her hair.

“They both turned around and walked away from me as I was trying to pull up my shirt and my pants,” Faria said. “She just ran me straight into the push bar of the truck and she gave herself a pat on the back with a “woo” like she hooted for herself for doing such a great job.”

Faria said that she’s never experienced anything like this before and spent two days in jail. She’s now hired nationally known civil rights attorney Harry Daniels.

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“This is unconscionable, this shouldn’t have happened,” Daniels said.

This is now the fifth case he’s been involved in against the Camden County Sheriff’s Office.

“This is not a couple of bad apples, this is a bad apple tree,” he said.

Faria said moving forward has been difficult, saying it’s a terrible thought that she fears the police.

“I don’t go anywhere when I come home from work because I don’t feel safe driving in the vehicle by myself,” Faria said.

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As far as the suspended license, Daniels said there was a lapse of insurance and Faria had paperwork to prove it, adding her license shouldn’t have been suspended and that there was an error by the State. Daniels said she wasn’t driving intentionally with a suspended license.

In January 2023, deputy Newman was indicted by a Camden County grand jury on charges of aggravated assault, simple battery, making a false statement and three counts of violation of oath by public officer.

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Action News Jax reached out to the Camden County Sheriff’s office for further comment but hasn’t heard back.