Horrifying moment cops HANDCUFF nine-year-old special needs child throwing a tantrum at Florida elementary school
The parents of a 9-year-old Florida boy are suing the city of Oviedo and local police after officers handcuffed their child in a school mailroom during a violent outburst and threatened to send him to jail.
The parents say excessive force was used when a police officer handcuffed their son, in a shocking moment captured on body camera footage released to the public Thursday.
The fourth grader is a special needs child who is prone to outbursts – to the point where the school, Stenstrom Elementary, had a specific procedure in place.
The student’s individual education plan and behavioral intervention plan list “physical aggression” as a behavior problem, according to a complaint filed Sept. 27.
Staff were instructed not to ‘participate in any conversation other than allowing him to complete the task’ and otherwise ‘limit the level of attention directed at him,’ the complaint states.
The parents of a nine-year-old boy are suing the city of Oviedo, Florida and local police after officers handcuffed their child during a violent outburst
The child’s hands were handcuffed behind his back, forcing him to the ground in the mailroom of Stenstrom Elementary School, in a moment captured on body camera footage
The complaint filed on September 27 alleges that the fourth grader – a child with special needs – is prone to aggression, to the point where it is mentioned in a ‘Behavioral Intervention Plan’.
Officers were called to the school in February after staff were unsuccessful in de-escalating the situation, as the child was cursing, yelling and throwing pieces of mail.
Two Oviedo police officers were called to the school’s mail room on Feb. 2 after school staff failed to de-escalate a situation where the fourth-grader was ‘cussing, yelling and throwing things,’ according to a police report.
School resource officer Yashira Moncada turned on her body camera after she arrived.
In the footage, the child can be seen sitting on the floor with pieces of mail scattered around him. He picks up several pieces and throws them at Moncada.
Moncada is heard saying ‘This is why I can’t be an SRO’ and the boy asks ‘if he wants to go to jail’ before calling Officer Scott Moseley for backup.
“I’m going to handcuff him,” Moseley said, despite being advised not to by a school counselor.
“You can do it, I can’t,” Moncada told the officer before handcuffing the screaming child’s hands behind his back.
The officers tell the boy to calm down as he lies prone on the floor.
The child asks to go home, to which Moncada replies: ‘You’re not going home, so you want to go to jail?’
About 13 minutes later, the handcuffs were removed.
The boy’s parents are suing the city of Oviedo and both officers, accusing them of excessive force and “battery/unnecessary force.”
They are seeking at least $75,000 in damages.
In the footage, the child is seen picking up pieces of mail and throwing them at school resource officer Yashira Moncada, saying ‘This is why I can’t be an SRO’
She asked the boy if he wanted to ‘go to jail’ before calling Officer Scott Moseley for backup
“I’m going to handcuff him,” Moseley says when he arrives, despite being discouraged by a school counselor
“You’re not going home, so you want to go to jail?” Moncada says when the boy asks to go
After the boy was handcuffed, his parents met with school staff and Moncada, according to the complaint.
During this meeting, Moncada reportedly told the parents they were ‘lucky she didn’t arrest their son.
The complaint alleges that he suffered ‘physical and emotional abuse and injury, mental anguish, violation of (his) right, humiliation, discomfort, embarrassment, loss of dignity, aggravation of an existing disease or mental defect, and medical expenses.’
The suit states that the Oveido and Seminole County school boards have a school resource officer agreement that prohibits the use of handcuffs on “disabled students” through fifth grade.
It also quotes a general order from the Oviedo Police Department that reads: ‘Juveniles under the age of 12 are NOT placed in handcuffs or other restraints unless they pose a risk or danger to themselves, the officer or others.’
The parents demand a trial by jury.
Oviedo police said the department will not be conducting interviews as the lawsuit is pending.
However, the family’s attorney, Drew Moss, issued a statement.
It read: ‘Nine-year-old children should not be handcuffed by police officers at school. The City of Oviedo failed to reach out to the family to make any effort to address this unfortunate situation.’
Moss said it was not the family’s “preference” to sue, “but the city’s failure to investigate this incident and the officers involved left them with no alternative.”
It is unclear what, if anything, caused the child’s tantrum – an investigation is pending.