Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Colorado Deputies Face Lawsuit After Body Cam Video Shows Aggressive Arrest Of Autistic 11-Year-Old Boy

Colorado Deputies Face Lawsuit After Body Cam Video Shows Aggressive Arrest Of Autistic 11-Year-Old Boy
CBS Denver/YouTube

Body-cam footage of Colorado deputies handcuffing a screaming 11-year-old Hispanic boy with autism sparked outrage.

The boy, who goes to Sagewood Middle School in Parker, Colorado was arrested after poking a classmate with a pencil after a classmate allegedly drew on him with markers.


On Tuesday, Michelle Hanson—the mother of the boy—filed a federal lawsuit accusing Douglas County school resource officers of "aggressively" handcuffing her son and locking him inside a police car for a few hours.

She is seeking unspecified damages from the Douglas County School District, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock, and the three deputies who arrested her son on August 29, 2020.

Hanson sued the sheriff and the deputies individually.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado (ACLU) is representing Hanson in the suit—which alleges violations of the boy's rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fourth Amendment.

Footage released by the ACLU showed the boy—known only as "A.V." in the lawsuit—wailing and telling one of the deputies:

"Stop. You're hurting me."

The deputy responded:

"I'm not—we don't want to hurt you. We just want you to walk with us, OK?"

At one point, the boy flailed and the deputy grabbed hold of his neck and told him:

"You're going to stop. Look at me. Look at me."

To which the boy cried:

"Ow—you're choking me."

For people on the autism spectrum, physical contact can be painful, especially during a sensory overload and they often struggle with making eye contact.


You can see the bodycam footage here.

WARNING: may be disturbing for some viewers

A.V. was reportedly detained inside the patrol vehicle alone for "a few hours."

He started banging his head on the plastic partition and suffered injuries.

Autistic people are disproportionately killed during interactions with law enforcement.

Instead of seeking medical attention, the 11-year-old autistic child was taken to a juvenile detention center where he was held on a $25,000 bond and charged for criminal assault, assault on a police officer, harassment and resisting arrest.

You can watch the news report, here.

youtu.be

The charges were dropped after Hanson agreed her son would enroll in a one-year diversion program.

According to KUSA, the Douglas County Sheriff's spokeswoman Lauren Childress commented on the suit, saying the initial call reported something more serious but ultimately untrue—the student stabbed another classmate with scissors and assaulted teaching staff.

ACLU attorney Arielle Herzberg said A.V. deserved understanding for his known issues.

She said of the boy:

"A.V. was calming down with a school psychologist when the school resource officers approached him aggressively, threatening him and handcuffed him."
"So a situation that could have been handled constructively turned out to be a criminal matter."


Hanson admitted her son had problems in school since kindergarten where the police have been involved.

"He struggles with aggression and communication," she said, adding the deputies should have been aware of his well-documented history.

"My son is a loving, caring, funny kid. You know, he struggles with communication. He struggles with social environment sometimes, and struggles with touch and sensory stuff."
"And, again, everybody should've known that. It's been very documented."

When asked if an 11-year-old should have been handcuffed under the circumstances, Herzberg said:

"In my view, counselors, psychologists, social workers and nurses, should be called in in situations—especially with children with disabilities. Not cops."

More from Trending

Protestors hold signs during a political demonstration
Mike Newbry on Unsplash

People Who Escaped Authoritarian Governments Share How They Knew It Was Time To Go

A recent marked rise in fascist movements and authoritarian governments has been on a lot of people's minds lately. But such regimes came and went throughout our human history.

To paraphrase a common saying, those who don't learn history are doomed to repeat it.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Mike Johnson
C-SPAN

Dems LOL After Mike Johnson Heaps Outrageous Praise On Trump Following Budget Bill Passage

Democrats laughed openly after House Speaker Mike Johnson heaped praise on President Donald Trump after the "Big Beautiful Bill"—packed full of GOP priorities—passed the House of Representatives.

The bill narrowly passed the House in a 215–214 vote early in the morning, following days of marathon meetings, high-stakes negotiations stretching across Pennsylvania Avenue, and a flurry of last-minute revisions that proved essential in uniting Republicans behind the legislation.

Keep ReadingShow less
SZA
Chris Haston/WBTV via Getty Images

SZA Reveals She Had To Bribe A 'Child' Into Throwing Away His 'Whippet Drugs'

Singer SZA has sparked a conversation around drugs being marketed to kids after she revealed in an Instagram story that she got a "child" to throw away his can of whippets by offering to take a photo or video with him.

She shared a photo alongside the post, showing a brightly colored canister of Galaxy Gas—commonly known as laughing gas—labeled with a strawberry-banana flavor and packaged as a whipped cream charger.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @atrustedadult2.0's TikTok video
@atrustedadult2.0/TikTok

Mom Stunned After Job Refuses To Let Her Call Out Of Work To Take Care Of Her Sick Kids

We can all agree that when we take on a role in a workplace, we should be expected to perform our duties, show up on time, not abuse the time off policy, and generally make good contributions as a member of that company. Those are all reasonable things to expect of an employee who is being paid.

But we are all human, and sometimes things come up that are out of our control.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @rtbjj19's TikTok video
@rtbjj19/TikTok

Student Calls Out School For Using ChatGPT To Pen Parts Of Their Yearbook In Viral TikTok

Anyone who participated in the school yearbook class while they were in high school can attest to the hard work and attention to detail that goes into creating the annual yearbook.

From curating photos, documenting important events from the year, interviewing students and teachers, and creating other highlights, the yearbook is meant to be a special memento for students when they graduate.

Keep ReadingShow less