Memorial Day weekend is often a busy time for law enforcement—people are out in droves celebrating and enjoying the warmer weather. But the weekend turned traumatic for at least one Prince George’s County teen, who was leaving a party with two friends when he was assaulted and kidnapped.
According to MyFoxDC.com, three teens were at an afternoon barbeque that lasted into the night. They were eventually asked to leave after the homeowner accused them of stealing something, an accusation they deny. As they were wandering around the neighborhood, two on bikes and one on foot, they were approached by two men.
It isn’t clear if the men identified themselves, but the teens didn’t seem to know they were dealing with off-duty police officers. Why the officers stopped them is another “unknown.”
One of the teens took off, leaving the other two at the mercy of the men.
A witness described what he saw:
“Approaching the roundabout in Charles Crossing, I noticed a large Caucasian male chasing a younger black male and when I came around the roundabout I saw the officer–I didn’t know he was an officer, but he was pounding on top of the victim.”
The two teens were cuffed. One managed to slip out of the cuffs and get away. The other was put in the back of the officers’ car and driven away from the neighborhood.
The teen, who the report refers to as J.L., was rightfully scared, not knowing where they were taking him or what would be done. After all, as the officers approached him on the street, they threatened to “shoot you in the back” if he didn’t stop where he was.
“I had to just sit back there and ride, I didn’t know if I was ever going to see my parents again. I didn’t know if I was going to die or live another day.”
The cops told the teen he would know “get the worst of it,” since his friends had escaped. They drove him to a gravel road and instructed him to stand with his chin against a fence while counting to 100. His cuffs were removed and the cops drove off while he was counting.
“I was afraid they would shoot or taze me there was just so much stuff going through my head,”
Could anyone blame him for being so frightened?
Not all police officers are ruthless and not all have bad enough judgment to kidnap a teen, threaten them with death, and abandon them on a gravel road. But when any officer thinks this is proper procedure or simply their off-duty- duty for keeping the neighborhood in check, we have a problem.
Police don’t normally mistreat people in such a brazen manner, though it does happen. Whether you were wrongfully arrested or if you just have questions about the charges being levied against you, we may be able to help.
Contact our offices today to discuss your case and what options are available to you. A local defense attorney is your advocate when it feels like no one in the system is on your side.
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