The attempted arrest of a 17-year-old boy was captured in widely shared video, officials said Tuesday, appearing to show him being punched in the head by an Oklahoma sheriff’s deputy.
The incident unfolded Saturday night at the Tulsa State Fair as the teen was being detained by Tulsa County Sheriff’s deputies, officials said.
As he’s face down and being handcuffed, one deputy was on the boy’s lower half and the other on top of the teen’s head and shoulder area, video of the arrest appeared to show.
“Our deputies were waved down by several civilian fairgoers who pointed out that there was a male individual and a female individual in line for one of the rides and the male individual was acting extremely belligerent, being intoxicated and causing a large disturbance that concerned the citizen bystanders,” Capt. Mike Moore, Tulsa State Fair commander for the Sheriff’s Office, told Tulsa World.
Moore said the male teen resisted arrest and fought with the deputies, who used “the force necessary” to subdue him.
Witnesses to the incident dispute that the force was necessary.
“They had thrown him to the ground,” witness Brandon Alexander, 38, told NBC News on Tuesday. “And then I saw the other cop that’s on his head area, rear back and just punch this joker right in the face, just blasted him right in the face and I watched his head bounce off the concrete.”
The teen and another boy were sitting on the ground as deputies were arguing with the 17-year-old’s girlfriend over whether she should be allowed to call her parents, Brandon Alexander and wife Tiffany Alexander both said.
That’s when the 17-year-old boy picked up a plastic bottle and threw it into the ground in frustration, prompting the deputies to handcuff him, Tiffany Alexander said.
“The guy got upset about the way they were treating his girlfriend. And then he picked up the plastic liquor bottle and threw it. And that’s when (deputies are) saying he picked up the bottle and tired to run,” Tiffany Alexander said.
“I never saw the kid try to run. As soon as he picked up that bottle and threw it, two cops pummel him to the ground.”
The incident will go to a use-of-force review board, Tulsa County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Casey Roebuck told NBC News. The case is still under investigation and findings will be presented to the Tulsa District Attorney’s Office.
“He was transported to a hospital to be treated for the alcohol intoxication, so he wasn’t booked the night of the incident,” Roebuck said. “When and if charges are filed, he’ll be booked.”
The sheriff’s representative declined to name the deputy who appeared to throw the punch. Roebuck did say a racial slur was used against that deputy, who is Black.
Brandon and Tiffany Alexander both said they never heard the boy utter a slur and insisted the teen wasn’t struggling against deputies.
“He did look like he was probably dunk,” Brandon Alexander said. “His head was bowed down and he looked like he was really intoxicated and not very conscious already to begin with.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
