WATCH: SBPD releases full bodycam video of officer detaining juvenile
UPDATE: A mother is now speaking out after police release body cam video of an officer detaining her 14-year-old daughter.
This started Friday, August 15, when dispatch received a call about a disturbance at a local McDonalds involving a juvenile.
“So there’s this little boy here," the caller said in the 911 audio recording. "No parent with him. He’s being very loud, aggressive, and he’s a little kid. Demanding us give him money, for an order that he already has."
South Bend Police releasing that 911 audio Wednesday during a press briefing along with body cam video from the responding officer. We now know the "little boy" mentioned in the 911 call is actually a 14-year-old girl.
The recordings were released following an uproar on social media over cell phone video showing the officer with the teen on the ground in downtown South Bend.
The body cam video ABC57 received is 28 minutes in total. It starts with South Bend Police Officer PFC. Samuel Chaput responding to the call, detaining the girl, and speaking to a manager at McDonalds. The video ends with Chaput dropping the girl off with a guardian.
At Wednesday's briefing, South Bend Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski said the Use of Force Committee reviewed the incident and found nothing wrong with the officer's actions.
"You saw at least two if not three occasions where the juvenile pushed the officer away by hand, and then was hitting the officer sideways on the ground," said Chief Ruszkowski. "Not head on a curb, not throat on a curb, not knelt on, not kicked, not punched, not pepper sprayed, not tasered not any of those things. Just held down sideways with the officer behind, simply holding down until the child calmed down."
South Bend Common Councilman Dr. Oliver Davis tells ABC57's Blake Parker the cell phone video was painful to watch, but the media briefing made him angry.
“This is worse than the situation… it’s like putting gasoline on a fire. It was already burning, and you have to be very gentle… there was no gentleness in that… cursing and yelling and screaming at somebody does not result in their head having to be pressed to the ground," said Dr. Davis. "So, I feel hurt, and I feel hurt from the comments of the chief [Wednesday}. That was pretty much dismissive to this whole thing.”
“If we did something wrong, we’ll own it," said Chief Ruszkowski. "If we didn’t, I’m going to defend it. That’s what I’m here doing right now, I’m defending what happened because I saw nothing that that officer did wrong. And I’ve been a cop for 37 years, if anybody in this room can, or anyone out there can beat that, let me know."
Civil Rights Attorney Andrew M. Stroth released the following statement Wednesday:
"Without cause or justification, a South Bend, Indiana police officer, with a history
of excessive force, wrestled to the ground an unarmed, 14-year-old, 100 pound
Black girl. This young girl goes to Portage School of Leaders and, at no point in
time did she commit a crime or provoke the attack by this officer. The family is
demanding a comprehensive and independent investigation and that this officer is
held responsible for this unwarranted attack and the violation of any use-of-force
policies. Today's defensive press briefing was a one-sided narrative and presentation
given by the South Bend police."
Below is a statement by Sunjoi Bradshaw, the mother of the 14-year-old girl:
"I was horrified by what I saw on the video today. This officer attacked my young
daughter, grabbed her by the neck and threw her to the ground. My daughter told me
that she couldn't breathe and thought that the officer was going to kill her."
Black Lives Matter South Bend will be holding a rally, "This Will Not Stand", Thurs. starting at 4:30 p.m. at the downtown McDonald's. Then, they will march to the court steps at 5:30 p.m., before attending the Community Police Review Board at 6 p.m. The rally will conclude after the meeting with another rally on the court steps.
UPDATE: SBPD has released the full bodycam footage of the officer detaining the juvenile girl.
You can watch it below.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- ABC57 is live at the South Bend Police Department press conference regarding video of an officer detaining a juvenile.
You can view the livestream on the ABC57 Facebook page.