Footage shows police officer taunting boy, 13, left freezing in car
A police department has released footage showing officers interrogate a handcuffed teen locked in a freezing car.
The Roswell Police Department in the US state of Georgia, released more than an hour of bodycam footage on YouTube last month after reports emerged of misconduct by its officers.
The video, filmed in January, shows a teen driving a golf cart down a road at 1am. He’s pulled over by an officer, identified by the Washington Post as Officer C Dickerson, who asks him for his name, address and what he’s doing.
He replies he borrowed the golf cart from his mum who works at an apartment complex in Roswell and he’s heading to Starbucks. He adds he’s 13 but doesn’t have identification.
The teen doesn’t offer many answers and he’s placed in handcuffs in Officer Dickerson’s patrol car.
He cries in the backseat that the handcuffs are too tight and fears he’s going to jail.
Later, Sergeant Daniel Elzey speaks asks the boy questions – he then asks Officer Dickerson to join him in his squad car for a moment.
“He’s not going to say anything if he’s warm,” Sgt Elzey says.
“That’s why I rolled your windows down.”
Sgt Elzey steps out of the car a few minutes later and asks the boy more questions.
“What’s your name?” he asks.
He gives his name and Sgt Elzey asks where got the golf cart from.
The cop gets a few more answers including the name of the boy’s mum, her address and where the golf cart was taken.
“I’ll tell you what, I’m going to drive to this address you gave me,” Sgt Elzey says.
“You’re going to hang tight right here since you can’t remember mum’s phone number and if I make contact with mum then we’ll get some heat going.”
The boy was later released with no charges, 11 Alive NBC reported.
His mum said she was “going to be sick” after hearing police left him freezing in a cop car.
Sgt Elzey has since been placed on administrative leave as an investigation into his conduct continues.
Last month, two more Roswell police officer were placed on leave after video emerged of them pulling over a woman who was speeding on her way to work.
The tearful woman replies she’s sorry before police officers used a coin flip app to decide whether to arrest her.
Police Chief Rusty Grant said the police officer’s conduct would also be part of an internal investigation.
