Parents Of Beaten Teen Devin Carter Demand All Officers Fired, Charged For Excessive Force, Actions During Son's Arrest
STOCKTON (CBS13) - Two officers are out of a job and another two are being disciplined following an investigation into the December arrest of 17-year-old Devin Carter.
The firings happened on the same day Devin's parents watched body camera video of their son's arrest where Devin was allegedly beaten.
"To hear my son pleading with officers that he is not resisting and the screams and the vulgar language that was directed towards my son was uncalled for," said George Carter.
Following the arrest, the family says Devin was left with several bruises on his body, swollen eyes, and a shoe imprint on his face.
Police say Devin was driving erratically and speeding leading officers on a chase.
His mom got emotional Tuesday, describing the body camera video shared with the family.
"Four adult police officers beating, kicking kneeing, stomping that head face and neck of a minor," she said.
Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones tells CBS13 he is not releasing the video due to Devin's age and out of respect to his family even though Devin and his parents held a press conference shortly after his arrest.
Officers Michael Stiles and Omar Villapudua have both been fired over excessive use of force following an administrative investigation.
Two other unnamed officers are facing disciplinary action but are still with the department.
The Carters are now demanding all of the officers involved to be charged for their actions and convicted.
But is it likely and what will it take? We ask criminal defense attorney Mark Reichel who says the district attorney can bring forth criminal charges.
He adds for a conviction there are several things that will be looked at including if the use of force was more than necessary if the defendant was resisting arrest if there was any harm to officers, the number of officers involved, what condition the defendant was in when officers were trying to make the arrest among other factors.
"If they find that they will be guilty of felonies, they will be guilty of serious assaults felonies and they can be looking at some serious prison time as well," he added.
The Carters hope their son's physical and emotional pain is never felt by another family.
"These are peace officers and there was nothing peaceful about what they did to our son," Devin's father said.