Police Officer Threw ‘Confused and Afraid’ 17-Year-Old Autistic Boy to Ground, Punched Him in California - ‘Don’t make me hurt you more’

[Morrison71]

‘Don’t make me hurt you more’: Video shows officer shove, hit teen with autism

Police say the officer had used “distraction strikes to overcome resistance.”

www.cbs42.com

As seen on video, a police officer in the city of Vacaville, California threw a 17-year-old autistic boy to the ground, and punched him.

“I don’t believe that Preston will ever trust a police officer again,” father Adam Wolf wrote on FacebookThursday. “I am pro police, but I am not pro ABUSE! This individual and department must be held accountable for their actions. NO child, disability or not, deserves to be treated like this.”
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“He confronted Preston, asked Preston to sit down. You can see he sits down. The police came over and threw his scooter and got in his face,” Wolf described. “Preston got scared, and that’s when he got up and the officer felt the need to throw him to the ground, and then straddle him and punch him directly in the face.”

Police say the officer had used “distraction strikes to overcome resistance.”

Audio from the video also captured the officer warning Preston, “You are going to get hurt. Don’t make me hurt you more.”
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The scuffle was recorded on Josh Bartholomew’s Ring security system and was witnessed by his 5-year-old son.

“Yeah, it was the most horrendous thing I’ve ever witnessed from a police officer in my city,” said Bartholomew.

“I heard screaming and yelling,” Bartholomew recalled. “I came out of the house, I stood right there and that’s when I saw the officer actually strike Preston in the face.”

Bartholomew said he tried to intervene by telling the several officers who were holding Preston down that he had special needs.
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After being detained for an hour, officers brought a Preston home, bruised and terrified.

“On top of that, they tried to get him, who is a 17-year-old and is autistic, they tried to get him to sign a citation,” his father said.

Wolf has not been told if the officer who hit his son will face any repercussions. He says he does want the officer to be held accountable.

‘Don’t make me hurt you more’: Video shows officer shove, hit teen with autism

Police say the officer had used “distraction strikes to overcome resistance.”

www.cbs42.com

Police Officer Threw 'Confused and Afraid' 17-Year-Old Autistic Boy to Ground, Punched Him (VIDEO)

As seen on video, a police officer in the city of Vacaville, California threw a 17-year-old autistic boy to the ground, and punched him.

lawandcrime.com

In a statement, Acting Police Chief suggested that the officer in question did not know Preston was on the autism spectrum.

 

[dirtypool]

“You are going to get hurt. Don’t make me hurt you more”

this is the shit gaslighting abusers say. “Look what you made me do”

 

[TC Nole OX]

BAU for America's Most Dangerous Street Gang

 

[DooBi]

So a potential suspect in what police were reported to be a stabbing was trying to run away and the officer tackled him.

Did he need to punch him? I don't know, he was clearly resisting.

"Don't make me hurt you more"? Everyone on here would love to believe that was a threat from an asshole bully, but it was clearly meant to try to make the perp understand that he needed to calm down and stop resisting.

But, you keep going op. Someday you'll find a good one for your cause.

 

[West Duval Nole]

He apparently ignored the training of saying the standard line of "Stop resisting". Although, don't make me hurt you more isn't nearly as bad as people are portraying it.

I am not really sure what the purpose of the throwing the scooter in an aggressive fashion was. I understand he may not have wanted it near the kid as he was talking to him so it could not be used as a weapon to hit him, but the kid was sitting down as he was asked to do, so move the scooter to a safe distance without the aggressive toss and get the other side of the story. Because people calling 911 aren't always accurate or truthful. It doesn't appear to me the boy has a knife or pole in is hand, so it doesn't appear to be an immediate danger to the officer from the kid.

That aggressive throw of the scooter seemed to start an unnecessary escalation and it also seems to me that the punch wasn't necessary at that point and some better grappling skills could be learned to get control without the punch, but it sounds like they are trained that a "distraction punch" can be used to gain control, which I can understand in some circumstances. This does not appear to be one where it was warranted even if the kid was not autistic.

 

[stillh8unlv]

Like anyone will give a shit.....this kid's white!

 

[West Duval Nole]

Like anyone will give a shit.....this kid's white!

Well that is why he is still alive and wasn't shot.