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A case between a 13-year-old boy who reportedly has a mental disability who was manhandled by an angry cop is under review by the Baltimore police after the incident went viral.
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The boy Deontay, and his 11-year-old sister were reportedly looking for a cat in a neighbor’s yard when the police were called. A neighbor reported a potential burglary.
In a video of the interaction, the officer can be seen trying to handcuff the 13-year-old. In another video, Deontay’s mother Kimberly Townes is trying to prevent the officer from taking her son, Wbaltv reports.
“He told them get on the ground. I said, ‘No, they ain’t getting on no ground,” Deontay’s mother, Townes said. “She 11 and he’s 13. They not getting on the ground. So I told them, ‘come on.’ When I said that, he grabbed my son, like close armed him, hit him down, tried to get the handcuffs on him, then he started closed fisting my son.”
It’s a chaotic scene as the officer pulls Deontay to the ground and Townes is screaming and trying to stop one officer while another has her 11-year-old daughter trying to hold her back. The officer twists Deontay’s as he screams. The officer sais he was trying to pin Deontay because “he just tried to squeeze my testicles!”
In another clip the officer has Deontay pinned to a patrol car as he tries to kick his foot back and hit the officer.
The officer angrily pushes Deontay into the vehicle and slams the door. And yells “I’m about to send this kid to the (expletive) hospital.” Then he walks away and turns around and yells something about his face and then the officer can clearly be heard saying, “If I see him again I’m going to beat the (expletive) out of him!”
Townes admits that her son has a mental disability, and officers should have dealt with the situation better.
“I still can feel it — a little knot — and I got a black eye, my teeth and stuff,” Deontay said.
Police issued the following statement about the case late Wednesday afternoon:
“This was clearly a very hectic and chaotic scene that the officers were dispatched to. We take these matters very seriously and Commissioner Tuggle has demonstrated his commitment to transparency and accountability. This case is being reviewed by the Office of Professional Responsibility as we speak, and that would include the video clips taken by civilians and posted to social media, as well as the police officers body worn cameras, that we hope provide a more conclusive version of events from start to finish.”