Runaway teen tackled, deputy uses stun gun
KGTV News
Friends of a teen boy who was caught on video where a San Diego County Sheriff’s deputy used a stun gun on him, are calling for him to be fired.
The deputy used a stun gun on the boy, age 12 or 13, at about 4 p.m. Saturday on Mission Road in Fallbrook. A group of young people were skateboarding behind a shopping center when the deputy tried to get the boy, a runaway, to get in his patrol car.
According to Cardenas, the deputy told the boy to go with him or he was going to “drop him.” The deputy grabbed the boy, threw him to the ground and yelled for him to put his hands behind his back.
“The officer punches him right here -- on the jaw -- and then he tases him two times,” Cardenas said. “And then he’s also choking him at the same time when he gets tased.”
“I was kind of shocked I’d never seen this ever in my life,” friend and witness Johnathan Daza said. “I didn’t know what to do, so I just kind of pulled out my camera and tried to keep it low because I was kind of afraid in a way.”
Daza said he hid the video from the deputies when they asked the teens if they had cellphone video of the incident. A deputy deleted at least one video of the incident off a witness’s cellphone, the teens told 10News.
The boy in the video was allegedly arrested after the deputy claims the boy bit his arm, his friends said.
AddictingInfo.org has the raw video and differing details:
The video footage shows the boy and the officer on the ground. The cop has the kid in a chokehold. He then deploys a taser to his back. The boy can be heard screaming, as bystanders demand to know what is going on.
A few seconds later the cop tases him a second time, as he is lying on his back on the ground.
Concerned bystanders claim that the cop never gave any reason for ordering the child into his patrol car, and say that he was not doing anything wrong at the time he was approached.
Now if the kid was in fact a runaway, then he knew why the policeman wanted him. However, you would think the cop would bother to explain himself to the bystanders. Regardless, it seems like an unnecessary escalation of violence.
As to whether the kid bit him, we shall see. If he was bitten, a medical examination can establish that (though I would want any bite markes compared to the policeman's own teeth since, yes, I believe the cop would bite himself to cover up misconduct).