Maryland police today defended the restraining and pepper-spraying of a 15-year-old girl they said was not cooperating after a traffic accident, saying that the actions of officers involved an appropriate amount of force.
The Hagerstown Police Department released bodycam videos that show officers attempting to restrain the girl and later, one officer pepper-spraying the teen as other officers attempt to close the door of the police car they have put her in.
On Sunday afternoon, police found the 15-year-old girl to be at fault for hitting a moving vehicle with her bicycle, according to the Hagerstown Police Department.
Police said that during the investigation, “the juvenile had to be detained” and that she began to be “assaultive” during the arrest, which is why she was pepper-sprayed.
The girl, whose identity was not released, was charged with disorderly conduct, two counts of second-degree assault, possession of marijuana and failure to obey a traffic device, police said. The matter was referred to the Department of Juvenile Services.
In the almost 15 minutes of videos released by police, firefighters and the girl are on the scene when the first officer arrives. The officer asks the firefighter to “grab” the girl’s information while he grabs the driver’s. As the teen sits on her bike, the firefighter tells the officer that she does not want to be treated because she says she’s not injured.
The driver then tells the officer he was coming down the street while the light was green when the girl came around the corner, didn’t stop and hit the side of his car. The officer then takes a picture of the damage to the driver’s side of the black sedan and asks for his license and registration.
“She didn’t want to stay,” the driver then tells the officer. “We almost had to forcibly keep her here.”
The video posted by ABC News begins at the point where the officer wearing the bodycam walking toward the girl, who is with another officer. The officer behind wearing the bodycam tells her to “come here.” The girl responds, “Nah, don’t touch me. Don’t f—ing touch me,” before she walks away and gets on her bike, saying she doesn’t want her parents to be called.
“Yeah, we are calling your parents,” an officer says.
As she bikes away, it appears that the officer wearing the bodycam stops her, grabbing her backpack and pulling her off the bike. She’s told that she’s being detained for not cooperating in an investigation.
“Get off of me,” the girl tells the officers as she tries to break free.
As the girl continues to struggle with the officers, one of them tells her: “You’re gonna get hurt. Stop.”
“Get the f— off of me,” she tells them. “I’m not going nowhere.”
One of the officers then instructs a bystander to “get back” multiple times as he tries to mediate the escalating situation.
“You let that badge go to your head, man,” the bystander tells the officer.
The officer then tells the girl to get her hands behind her back and tries to handcuff her, reminding her that she’s “being detained right now” when she asks why.
“Get that s— off of me,” she says as she wiggles away.
The officers grab her, telling her to “stop,” and she begins to scream, saying to the officers that they were hurting her.
The girl then sits on the ground and doesn’t respond as police ask for her name. The officer wearing the bodycam places his hand on her shoulder, saying that they’re “trying to help” her.
For full story visit: http://abcnews.go.com/US/video-shows-15-year-girl-pepper-sprayed-police/story?id=42285044