Editor’s note: This article details an arrest in which a police officer uses profane language.

An Onondaga County deputy sheriff used profane and threatening language when arresting a minor on Wednesday, even as the minor pleaded with the deputy to stop, a video circulating on social media shows.

The video begins with the 15-year-old minor, who is Black, sitting in the driver’s seat of a stopped car addressing the camera. A deputy sheriff forcefully pulls the minor, who has both hands raised, out of the vehicle.

The incident occurred Wednesday morning around 4 a.m., said Sgt. Jon Seeber, a spokesperson for the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, in a statement to The Daily Orange. The arrest followed a pursuit related to a stolen vehicle that ended in Oswego County, Seeber said. 

While removing the minor from the vehicle, the deputy yells at him to “get the f*ck out of the car.” The minor can be heard pleading for a deputy to “please stop,” followed by a loud thud. 

The deputy or deputies present continue to use profane language throughout the encounter, even as the minor apologizes and asks for them to stop.

“Please don’t do this to me. Don’t kill me,” the minor says at one point while off-camera.

At the conclusion of the video, a white deputy reaches into the vehicle and turns off the camera. Photos accompanying the video show the minor, wearing the same sweatshirt he was wearing during the arrest, with a split lip and bruises on his face and neck. 

Seeber did not respond to a request for comment on whether the deputy or deputies involved in the encounter exercised force or whether the minor sustained any injuries during the arrest. The incident is under investigation at this time, Seeber said.

Published on November 14, 2020 at 12:28 pm

Contact Chris: cjhippen@syr.edu