Police Accused Of Ramming Teen With Vehicle In Del Paso Heights, Prompting Outcry
DEL PASO HEIGHTS (CBS13) - A teen is now recovering after being hit by a Sacramento police patrol car.
Police say the 16-year-old was riding his bike along Rio Linda Boulevard and Eleanor Avenue in Del Paso Heights, Sunday night without lights. They tried to stop him, but he took off running.
He now says he's doing ok, but he's really sore.
Neighbors and family took to the streets Sunday night, sounding off to Sacramento police just minutes after he was hit by a patrol car next to his aunt's home.
"We spend thousands and thousands and millions and billions of dollars for these officers to protect us, and they use vehicles like these to run over minors," exclaimed Lavar Washington, the boy's uncle.
Washington describes what he saw when police turned down his street.
"The police pretty much used the Interceptor to run the minor over to get him to stop, flying him about 10 feet off the sidewalk, into the neighbor's yard," Washington added.
Family members are now demanding answers from police.
"Why couldn't you get out of the car and chase him? And taser him?" questioned the boy's aunt.
According to detectives, officers spotted the boy riding his bike without any lights. When they tried pulling the boy over, he took off on foot, and officers say they chased after him.
"One of our responding units attempted to detain the individual. In that process, the fleeing suspect, and patrol vehicle made contact," said Detective Eddie Macaulay.
The patrol car collided with the boy right in front of a home, and into a BMW sedan.
"They rammed him!" said the boy's aunt.
Sacramento police taped off the neighborhood for hours Sunday night as detectives investigated the crash.
With so many questions swirling around the neighborhood, family members say the force police used on the boy, was not justified.
"If police are chasing me down like that and trying to come on the side of the street and I know he's about to try to hit me with his car and I don't see his car slowing down, I would run too," Washington said.
Sacramento police say they're investigating claims that the boy had a warrant out for his arrest.
He was cited and released for resisting arrest.
The boy's family says they plan to attend the next monthly police meeting on Thursday to protest the incident.