CAUGHT ON VIDEO: Stockton Teen's Detainment Raises Questions Over Police Use Of Force
STOCKTON (CBS13) — A police confrontation with a teen goes viral after video shows the encounter starting with one Stockton Police officer trying to arrest the suspect then turns into nine officers taking him down.
Emilio Mayfield, 16, was on his way to school when he says he had a confrontation with a Stockton Police officer.
Police say Mayfield broke two laws, but Mayfield's supporters say police used excessive force.
The teen says he was trying to catch the bus to school when he was stopped by an officer.
"I see myself as a great young man, successful in school," he said.
Police say Mayfield was standing where he was not supposed to be—in a bus lane.
Another passenger recorded the video of the teen's struggle with the officer. The cop called for backup and nine additional officers came.
"Our officer, for safety reasons, went over to tell the person to get out of the lane and go to the sidewalk," said police spokesman Joe Silva. "The kid started to use obscene language at the officer and said 'I don't have to listen to you' and refused to get out of the lane."
Mayfield and his family met with Stockton NAACP president Bobby Bivens about Mayfield's altercation with police.
"I feel traumatized. I was beaten and slammed on the floor," he said.
Stockton Police say the teen was not arrested for jaywalking. Instead, he was detained and cited for walking in the designated bus lane.
"As you can see in the video, our officer had his baton out, but the suspect was also holding onto baton," Silva said. "As law enforcement officers, we cannot and will not allow anyone to take our weapons."
But Bivens says the officer used unnecessary force on Mayfield.
"The behavior of the officer was totally out of line. There's no reason for him to attack this young man as he did," he said.
Protesters showed up at the bus depot in support of Mayfield. He still needs to appear before juvenile court to respond to his two citations—police say they cited him for resisting arrest and trespassing.