A 17-year-old high school student claims a couple of school resource officers beat the hell out of him because he wouldn't pull up his pants. This is a truly fucked-up story if the student's side is true (and, as you can imagine, the officers are telling a different story).
The Wichita Eagle reported that Jonathan Villarreal, a sophomore at Derby High School, claimed that he was walking to a bus stop -- probably more like waddling if his pants were sagging -- after school Wednesday afternoon when one of the officers told him to pull 'em up. Villarreal told the officer he could wear them however he wanted since it was after school (and probably not in the most polite of terms). Then came the pain.
The officers apparently didn't take kindly to being told no. Villarreal told the Eagle that he was whipped to the ground by his neck and told to stop resisting arrest, which he denies doing. He claims he was kneed in the back and neck, slammed to the ground, and, at one point, he felt his arm break. He kept trying to get up, but finally one of the officers shocked him with a Taser. Despite having a broken arm, he was handcuffed until EMTs arrived.
The officers are members of the Derby Police Department. Derby
Police Chief Robert Lee told the Eagle that Villarreal cursed at his
officers when they told him to get his pants off the ground. Lee claimed
that Villarreal refused the officers' demand that he go to the school's office and even took "an aggressive stance" before being Tasered.
Even if that's the case, this seems extreme. Saggy pants and maybe some curse words really require force? If so, we're all in trouble. This is some authoritarian bullshit. So the kid refuses. And maybe he cusses at you. This doesn't give you the right to use excessive force (again, if this is all true, and three witnesses are backing up the kid).
Out of all of this, the kid who got his ass kicked may be facing charges as a juvenile in Sedgwick County.
Meanwhile, the Derby PD says they will investigate the incident.
Meanwhile, General Larry Platt has a message for the students of Derby.
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