Cellphone Video Shows Interaction Between Boy, 13, And Baltimore Police Officer

RadioOnFire.com - Baltimore police said they are reviewing a case involving an interaction between an officer and a 13-year-old boy in northeast Baltimore this week.

The boy said he went into a neighbor's yard Monday looking for his cat. The neighbor said he thought the boy was trying to break into his home. Either way, the police were called and neighbors recorded cell phone video.

One of the videos shows an officer ordering the boy, Deontay, and his 11-year-old sister to sit down on a stoop. That video ends abruptly.

Another video picks up with the altercation between Deontay and a police officer already in progress.

"He told them get on the ground. I said, 'No, they ain't getting on no ground," said Deontay's mother, Kimberly Ravenwood. "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."

The video shows a lot of chaos, including Kimberly's 11-year-old daughter trying to intervene, and others telling her to back up.

Video shows Deontay kicking and trying to get away as the officer walks him, in handcuffs, to a police car.

Kimberly said Deontay has a mental disability, and that a separate officer eventually called an ambulance.

"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."

Source WBAL