NYPD cop suspended after video shows him hitting 14-year-old girl
A officer of the New York Police Department was shown on camera on Tuesday hitting a 14-year-old girl many times in Staten Island.
An NYPD official told that the 14-year veteran cop has been suspended and is being investigated for use of force by the Internal Affairs Bureau.
According to the department’s statement, at approximately 2:40 p.m. local time on Tuesday, after school had let out, two officers “observed a large fight involving multiple female juveniles” According to the emailed statement, the officers involved in the incident were “assigned to a school dismissal post” in the area of Staten Island at the intersection of Willowbrook Road and Forest Avenue.
The NYPD told Insider that a girl aged 14 “obstructed the arrest by reaching for an officer’s handcuffs and punching the officer in the head” when they were trying to take one of the suspects into custody. “The officer, assigned to the 121st Precinct, utilized physical force against this female by striking her with his hand several times. The 14-year-old female was taken into custody and removed to a local hospital where she was treated and released.”
The cop may be seen on video for eight seconds appearing to punch the girl while she is surrounded by kids.
A voice can be overheard saying, “He’s hitting her? He’s hitting her?”
Kyonna Robinson, a 14-year-old in the video, spoke exclusively to CBS News about how she intervened when another girl started fighting her 12-year-old sister.
“The girl is bigger than my sister, fighting my sister, of course, I’m gonna jump in. I didn’t even know what was going on. I just ran over there,” Kyonna revealed to CBS News.
A full copy of the footage of the incident was unavailable to Insider. CBS News, however, has received a longer footage of the incident shot from a nearby camera. According to the report, the video appears to show a police officer cuffing Kyonna’s sister after she bumped into the officer.
Kyonna described the altercation with the police officer as follows: “He pushed me and then I punched him in his face two times and we just started fighting,”
“I don’t care who you are. You touch me, I’m gonna fight back,” This is what Kyonna revealed to CBS News.
Kyonna claimed she went to the emergency room after experiencing a headache and a bump on her head. CBS News reports that she is facing charges of assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest on the juvenile level.
“I was disappointed in the NYPD,” Kyonna told CBS News. “I’m a whole child. Why are you putting your hands on me? You’re supposed to be breaking up the fight.”