Delaware state trooper who dished out his ‘own form of personal justice’ on two teenagers for playing ding dong ditch prank on his girlfriend is indicted over violent rampage
A Delaware state trooper who allegedly took the law into his own hands after teens pranked his girlfriend during a game of ding dong dit has been charged.
Dempsey R. Walters, 29, is accused of beating a 15-year-old boy after he was stopped by other officers. The boy, identified only as Jadyn, was left with a fractured eye socket and a concussion.
Walters’ girlfriend told him the boys tricked her by kicking the front door and running away. Doorbell security footage showed the moment the teen ran up to the state police door with his face hidden in his T-shirt and kicked it before speeding away with his friends standing nearby watching.
Walters, who had worked in the state police for nearly seven years, was on duty at the time of the ding dong ditch, but his girlfriend was home and called him with a description of the boy over the doorbell camera.
Dempsey R Walters, 29, allegedly punched a 15-year-old boy in the face and faces a six-count sexual assault charge
Dashcam footage captured the moment a group of officers stopped three teenagers on the side of the road who they suspected were involved in a nearby ding dong ditch prank
On September 17 – four days before the prank – Walters had collided with a 17-year-old boy while off-duty and on his way to his home in Elsmere.
After the argument, Walters called Elsmere police and left the scene. Responding officers took the boy to his home on Taft Avenue, where his mother claimed him.
On September 21 – the night of the ding dong ditch – Walters heard from other officers that a group of teenagers had been running down Taft Avenue, which reminded him of the boy from four days earlier.
Walters used his police computer to look up the 17-year-old’s address and went to his home on Taft Avenue, where the boy opened the door with his friend.
Bodycam footage of the visit shows Walters appearing to grab the boy near the doorway and push him to the ground, injuring him. The teen was handcuffed and detained, but not formally arrested.
After his first attempt at justice was unsuccessful, Walters was given a second chance at revenge when he was informed that the group involved in the prank had been found at another location.
The state trooper reportedly decided to take matters into his own hands after learning that the group involved in the doorbell incident had been found and detained by other officers nearby.
When he arrived on the scene, the teens were assaulted and sworn at by the officers.
The ding dong ditch prank was captured on doorbell security camera footage at Walters’ home, where his girlfriend was. The video showed a boy running to their door and kicking the door before fleeing
The 15-year-old, identified only as Jadyn, was reportedly punched twice in the face by Walters, leaving him with a broken eye socket and a concussion.
Four days prior to the incident, Walters had reportedly had an encounter with another teenage boy while he was off duty, so he called local police to take the boy to his Taft Avenue home.
The incident was captured on dashcam footage that has since been released by the Delaware Department of Justice.
The footage shows three boys walking down a residential street before an officer stopped next to them and shouted at them to get on the ground.
The boys raised their hands and lay down on the ground, but an officer grabbed the child and pushed him down.
You hear the boy shouting something inaudible as the officer repeatedly tells him to “shut up.”
Walters quickly joined in after arriving, throwing himself at one of the boys and pinning him down by the neck with his own knee.
Moments after Walters inserts himself into the scene, he takes one of the boys into the back of the police vehicle and disables the body camera he was wearing before allegedly punching the 15-year-old twice in the face, breaking his eye. electrical outlet and left him with a concussion.
After the attack, Walters turned his body camera back on and walked around the vehicle.
The group of officers then took the teen to a remote parking lot where they left him alone with his injuries while they pieced together their stories about what happened that night, said the boy’s attorney, Sam Davis.
Walters learned that a group of young boys were on Taft Avenue the night of the teen’s prank, which reminded the officer of his fight four days earlier. Walters went to the 17-year-old boy’s home and allegedly injured him during an altercation
When Walters arrived on the scene with the group of boys on Taft Avenue, he allegedly took matters into his own hands by turning off his body camera and slamming one of the boys into the back of the police vehicle.
Democratic Attorney General Kathy Jennings issued a statement following the brutal attack: “As a mother and grandmother, the images in this case are difficult to watch.
“As a prosecutor, the constitutional violations are staggering.”
Walters was suspended without pay, but has not yet been fired. He faces a six-count indictment for the unlawful assault of two victims, both minors.
Jennings said the minors were “the target of a violent attack caused by a juvenile prank” in which one of the victims did not even participate.
The attorney general also said Walters “tried to conceal” his wrongdoing.
Mothers of the teenagers spoke out at a press conference on Thursday.
The 15-year-old’s mother said her son has just returned to school after recovering from the attack and is walking in and out of the nurse’s office with a headache.
She said: ‘I don’t feel like I’m safe. He made one phone call and gathered his entire gang. Like he’s gathered his gang together.’
Delaware State Police and the Department of Justice said they could not comment due to legal restrictions.