BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A protest took place Friday afternoon after a video began circulating on Facebook. At the center of the video is a 15-year-old Buffalo girl who is accused of shoplifting at a Family Dollar in Cheektowaga.
The video showed officers taking the girl into custody.
"There were about 8 cars out there, about two unmarked cars. When I went out there and heard all the commotion, I heard just a kid screaming. When I walked over there, she was being abused. She was down on the ground. She was being roughed up, she got slammed to the ground, knee in the back. I actually saw this with my face," said witness Bernice Lee.
Lee said she immediately asked other witnesses to pull their phones out and document the situation.
The teenager's grandmother, Aminah Barnes, said she witnessed the incident on a FaceTime call.
"She was in the police car. They snatched her out of the car and they had her on the ground with her head pressed onto the ground. Men, not women. It was one female, with their knees in her back and she was screaming, 'I can't breathe. I can't breathe.' And my daughter is begging them please, 'Let her up. Let her up.' I felt helpless. There was nothing I could do," she said.
Many community members said this was a case of mistaken identity.
Cheektowaga Police said that was not the case and they deny any claims of excessive force.
"We have in-store video of her committing the crime and the property was found on her," said Cheektowaga Police Chief Brian Coons. "We reviewed all of the Body 1 Camera videos. Our officers were within policy and procedures and New York State law. They were all compliant. The force that they used was minimal. In fact, I think they showed a lot of restraint."
Lee said the number of officers at the scene was unnecessary. Chief Coons disagreed.
"It actually worked out. The amount of officers that were there, instead of having one officer really fight with this individual," he said. "Having more officers there was able to help subdue her quicker with minimal force."
However, Barnes believes the situation could have been handled better.
"What I do hope comes out of this is that they get better training because you're going to deal with and you're going to come across many teenagers and you need to know how to handle the teenagers without displaying what just happened," she said.
According to Chief Coons, the footage will not be released because it features a minor.
"She went to the hospital yesterday. Her hand is bruised. She has a splint on her hand. She is severely traumatized. She is being cyberbullied right now. She doesn't want to come outside. Her face is everywhere and her mother is traumatized," Lee explained.
The teenager has been charged with petit larceny and released to a parent.
