Video shows cops slam teen onto ground after alleged jaywalking
STOCKTON, Calif. -- A YouTube video posted Wednesday shows a Stockton Police officer hitting a teenager with a baton after he was allegedly walking in a bus-only lane, CBS San Francisco reports.
YouTube user Edward Avendaño, who posted the video under the username "Stockton Port City," said he started recording shortly after a police officer stopped the teen for allegedly jaywalking. As soon as the video plays, a bystander is heard repeatedly yelling: "It's a f***ing kid" as the officer uses his baton to push a teenager into a landscaped perimeter.
The teenager pushes back as the officer yells, "Stop resisting arrest!" while a crowd gathers. The teenager then grabs the officer's baton, yelling "Get the f**k off me."
The officer begins to swing at the teenager's face and strikes him, a strong enough impact that the teen grabs his face in pain. The officer then orders him to get on the ground.
The same bystander is heard repeatedly screaming "He's a f**king kid .... for jaywalking? He didn't do nothing wrong. That is a child."
At least eight officers arrive at the scene and surround the boy before slamming him onto the concrete.
They handcuff the sobbing teenager and escorted him to the back of a police SUV.
"He was 2 feet away from the sidewalk when the cop stopped him for 'jaywalking,'" Avendaño wrote in a Facebook post with video, which has been viewed more than 400,000 times on YouTube. He also said the police officer's body camera can be seen on the floor.
Stockton Police spokesperson Joseph Silva said the 16-year-old boy was stopped Tuesday morning at about 6 a.m. after the officer in the video told him to move from the bus-only lane. Silva said the teen defied orders and responded with obscene language, despite signs posted in the area stating walking is prohibited in bus-only lanes and is a violation of Stockton municipal code.
When the officer went to detain him, Silva said a scuffle ensued and the officer's body camera was knocked off in the process. The fight escalated when the boy grabbed the officer's baton at which point the officer responded with force for "weapon retention" purposes, according to Silva.
"If people would just comply with lawful orders from law enforcement and not grab our weapons, force would never have to happen," Silva said.
The teenager was transported to the police station. He was cited for trespassing and resisting arrest before he was released to his mother.
The Stockton Police Department is reviewing the incident, but preliminary investigation suggests the officer was probably acting within policy, Silva said.