Texas police officer pulls gun at teenage pool party
Police in Texas take an officer off duty after he pins a 15-year-old African American girl to the ground and then draws his gun in front of other teenagers.
The officer, in the Dallas suburb of McKinney, was among those who responded to reports of a disturbance. Amateur footage shows police officers trying to gain control, having been called to the upper-middle-class community pool at Craig Ranch North.
During the incident the officer, named as Eric Casebolt, is seen throwing the teenager girl to the ground, and when two unknown men rush forwards he pulls out his gun.
He then returns to the girl, who is calling for her “Mama”, and throws her to the ground again, shouting: “On your face.”
The officer, who has since been placed on administrative leave, then presses his knees on the girl’s back. She can be heard crying.
The girl, Dajerria Becton, told Fox4: “He grabbed me and he, like, twisted my arm on the back of my back and he shoved me in the grass, he started pulling the back of my braids and I as telling him can he get off me because my back was hurting really bad.”
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Above: the McKinney police officer is seen drawing his firearm. He reholsters it when he returns to the teenage girl
The video was shot by an unknown party, and in the course of seven minutes shows various teenagers being handcuffed and the officer shouting at others to leave the scene.
The teenage girl was arrested but later released to her parents. Another adult male was arrested in the incident on Friday for interference with the duties of a peace officer and evading arrest.
Under the spotlight
The relationship between US police forces and the African American community has been under the spotlight over the past year after several incidents in which unarmed black men have been shot by white officers. While there is no evidence to suggest race was a factor in this incident, some Texans linked the actions of the officer to race on the McKinney police Facebook page.
McKinney police chief Greg Conley said the “juveniles who were creating the disturbance” were “fighting and refusing to leave”.
“Several concerns about the conduct of one of the officers on the scene have been raised,” he said. “A formal investigation into the incident has been started and the officer involved has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
“The McKinney police department is committed to treating all persons fairly under the law.”
He said he was committed to a “complete and thorough investigation” into the incident. Two officers with the McKinney police department are conducting the investigation.