Footage Shows NC Police Violently Handling Mentally Ill Teenager (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A dramatic hospital surveillance video shows police officers tackling, tasting and punching a mentally ill teenager in the head in North Carolina, US.
In surveillance video of the scene, which happened in December in Lincolnton, outside Charlotte, security guards are seen tackling the teenager. At another point, a sheriff's deputy punches him in the head while he's handcuffed.
His mother, Jessica Long, told CBS Charlotte affiliate WBTV that security officers and law enforcement escalated the situation instead of helping her son, who's been treated for mental illness in the past. "They did the worst; they made it worse," Long said.
The shocking video shows the moments Long's 16-year-old son, Hayden, was tackled to the ground and punched twice in the head.
Long said she brought Hayden to the emergency room in December for a possible mental health emergency. She asked for a hospital security guard to help get him in the building.
But the guard ends up grabbing him. Surveillance video shows Hayden was shoved twice — hard enough that the teen came out of his shoes.
When Long's back was turned, a second security officer appears to tackle Hayden to the ground. The boy stayed there for more than five minutes with both guards on top of him.
Body cam footage shows the guards tased the boy twice.
Four deputies with the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office then showed up. The boy, handcuffed and with a mouth full of blood, spit at Deputy Justin Polson.
Video then shows the deputy punching the boy in the head twice.
Long said she won't turn to Atrium hospital for help in the future.
Long said Hayden was not seriously injured but is traumatized by the incident. Her attorney said Hayden spent eight days in juvenile detention, and that his family is hoping to get the charges dropped at a preliminary hearing this afternoon.
