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VIDEO: Police Handcuff Mentally Disabled Boy Who Wandered From School

CHICO (KPIX) -- New video of an 8-year-old in handcuffs has raised concerns.

A mom was outraged after finding police handcuffed her mentally disabled son.

She said he suffers from mental disorder.

The ordeal was captured on cellphone video.

The woman can be heard telling officers, "I just don't understand how a little boy can be in handcuffs."

An officer tells her they are trying to get them off as quickly as possible.

"You're the one who put them on him," she says. "Take the handcuffs off. He's obviously distressed, he's gonna hurt himself."

"We're working on that," says the officer.

"I don't see your working on it," she says. "Get your key out and take the handcuffs off."

Cell phone video shows the boy on the ground crying.

Apparently, on Thursday, he wandered off from his school in Chico. His mom says the school has a special protocol and administrators are supposed to follow her son when he leaves because of his condition.

Instead, they called Butte County Sheriff's deputies who put the boy in handcuffs as a last resort.

"As they were following him, they became more concerned that he may dart into traffic so at one point one of the deputies took him and restrained him," said the sheriff's office. "That resulted in him struggling and at one point he was scratching the deputy who was holding his arm."

The parents of the boy plan to press charges. The sheriff's office is still investigating.

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