A video posted to Facebook shows Maryland police officers pepper-spraying and roughing up a 15-year-old girl who was in handcuffs. The teenage girl was arrested after her bicycle hit a car, and police say they had to restrain her and take further action in order to take her into custody, according to ABC News.
ABC News reported that the girl, who is "mixed race," was charged as a juvenile with assault and disorderly conduct. Police also told ABC the officers found marijuana in the girl's possession.
The girl's lawyer, Robin Ficker, posted a video of his young client's arrest, showing what appears to be a very disturbing interaction between the teenager and police officers. In the video, the young girl can be heard screaming at times, and she can be seen in the back of the police car, kicking her legs. At one point she said she could not breath and begged officers to call her mom.
Ficker posted the video and a photo of his young client on his Facebook page, writing that she was hit by a car, then slammed against a wall by officers for resisting arrest. Ficker also wrote that his client was maced four times while handcuffed in the back on the squad car.
Hagerstown Police Captain Paul Kifer told ABC the girl resisted arrest and did not want to be taken to the hospital, despite being involved in an accident. "At that point, as would be even with an adult," Kifer told ABC. "If you're refusing to give us information on a traffic situation, at that point you can be arrested until we determine who you are."
ABC also reported that the officers involved remain on duty while the arrest is investigated.
