16-year-old Jahmel Leach was attacked and humiliated by NYPD officers while walking home in the Bronx.
What We Know:
- As protesters march to end police brutality against black people, more and more people are looking at the actions and procedures of the police. Some members of law enforcement still continue to brutilize civilians in the wake of a public uproar.
- Teenager, Jahmel Leach, says he was walking home around 8pm on June 1, when he was “approached by several officers, who unexpectedly slammed (me) to the ground and tazed me to the left temple”. Leach stated he was in the area of the protest but was not participating because he is afraid of large crowds.
- The NYPD alleged the teen was caught on surveillance video using an unknown liquid, attempting to set fire to trash at least five different times.
- Leach said he couldn’t remember what happened after he was tased in the head. He only remembered waking up in a jail cell with adults coughing up blood. Leach was eventually taken to St. Barnabas Hospital where he asked to call his mother and was denied.
- Doctors finally called his mother for him in order to get permission to treat his injuries because he is a minor. Leach suffered broken teeth and facial fractures that required his mouth to be wired shut.
- Leach’s mother said she didn’t see him again until she picked him up from the 52nd precinct where he was then violated for a second time. When the arresting officer, Kevin Hickey, brought Leach out, he didn’t have any clothes or shoes on.
- Leach expressed that the police made him walk around in his hospital gown from the hospital to the precinct. When he asked for his clothes, the police said no.
- Leach’s mom, Daisy Acevedo stated “If I was responsible for these injuries to my own child, I would be in jail as a parent!” The mother said she wants the same consequences for the officers who assaulted her son.
- Leach’s attorney says he believes the police mistook the teen for an adult because of his six-foot tall and 200 pound build.
On Wednesday night, Mayor de Balsio, said he was disturbed by the situation after speaking with the family and he’s going to get them answers. The Mayor called for an internal investigation into the teens arrest.
