Cop allegedly chokes and tases 13yo runaway.http://www.cbs8.com/story/29317258/cell-phone-video-captures-teen-getting-tased[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzu-wa0pzLI[/youtube]
Here are the fast facts of what we know so far:
- The boy was apparently 13 years of age, despite being identified at the end of the video as age 15.
- The boy is 5' 6", and weighs approximately 145 lbs., according to The Sheriff Bill Gore.
Source.- The boy was reported as a runaway by his mother. He had been reported as a runaway at least five times previous.
Source.
- Deputy Banks located the boy skateboarding behind a strip mall at 1100 block of South Mission in Fallbrook.
Source.
- The deputy urged several times for the boy to come with him, so he could be taken home to no avail. When the deputy grabbed his arm, the boy became combative and bit him. Use of force was then necessary to restrain the boy and get the situation under control, according to the police.
Source.
- The boy is being charged with felony assault on an officer and resisting arrest.
Now on to some of the BS so far in the case. Bear in mind we don't have all the facts yet, and there is no video currently released of the incident prior to the use of force. However some questions arise about the "official narrative" from what we know and the video:
- First off the officer definitely was grabbing the boy by the neck. Whether it was actually "choking" him could be debated, but as you can see from the picture below, in frame A the officer has his arm clearly around the boys throat area. In frame B, the boy has his hand above his head and the officers arm around his neck is clearly visible. This is included because the low resolution and brightness of the video can make it difficult to see the what is what. Of course the San Diego Union-Tribune does a good job covering for the San Diego Sheriff's Office by using the
obfuscatory description that:
The boy ended up on the ground and the deputy ?went hands on? and tried to gain control of him by putting an arm around his upper body. Gore said the move was not a choke hold or a carotid restraint.
Finally I include a frame from a video of a Georgia cop
applying an actual chokehold to a CNN reporter. The eyewitnesses to the scene may be forgiven for thinking that the cop is actually applying a chokehold because they look damn near identical, at least from the current footage available.
- Also at about the 0:50 mark there is potentially a second taser charge delivered. The boy while handcuffed suddenly begins to violently thrash his legs about, in a similar fashion to the first taser charge delivered earlier to his back while in the "upper body" restraining position. Also quickly after the boy begins to thrash about, the officer throws down what appears to be his taser. Witnesses exclaim that he is also being tasered again for a second time. This potentially contradicts Sheriff Bill Gore who said that the deputy deployed his taser once.
Source.
- Finally, a point that needs to be investigated is the claims of witnesses that the police officer confiscated phones and deleted video recordings of the arrest. This is troubling since the police have included the officer having possession of witnesses' phones in the official timeline. It is explained away by Sheriff Gore with the
following story:
After the incident, Gore said, Banks went out and asked if anyone had recorded the incident and then recorded that footage for department record because deputies do not wear body cameras. Gore said the deputy did not erase or confiscate anyone's video from the scene.
However it makes one wonder, how exactly did the deputy "record" the footage off of witnesses cell phones? This line certainly smells funny.
I will update as further details become available.
UPDATEBoy may have been 12yrs old & witnesses allege that cop punched the boy in the face prior to video start.
http://filmingcops.com/raw-video-cop-puts-13-yr-old-child-in-chokehold-tases-him-while-choking/
