The Syracuse police have been accused of traumatizing a young boy after he allegedly stole a bag of chips.
In a shocking viral clip, at least four officers in Syracuse, New York, are seen detaining a 10-year-old boy, whereas one officer held his hands behind his back while pushing him towards the patrol car.
While being taken away, the child can be heard screaming and crying, prompting passersby to check what’s going on.
Confronting the police, one man began recording the incident and asked the officers what they were doing.
“Guess! Take a guess what I’m doing!” one cop yelled. “He looks like a baby to me. I don’t know what you’re doing. So what’s going on then?” the man behind the camera responded. “He’s stealing stuff. If he breaks into your house…” the officer, who was also holding a bag of chips, said before getting cut off by the passerby.
“Nah man! What he stole a bag of chips so you gotta treat him like a cold-blooded f***ing criminal?” the man shouted back at the cop.
Responding to the passerby, one cop then ordered him to “keep walking” and let the officers do their job.
“I see you snatching him up the butt like he’s a grown-ass man – and he said it wasn’t him!” the passerby fought back, suggesting that the boy denied stealing the bag of chips. The man went on to offer to pay for the item before the video was cut off.
“If he stole some chips, I’ll pay for them. I’ll pay for them! Leave him alone! He’s a kid!” he added. After the clip ended up on the internet, outraged social media users slammed the cops and accused them of traumatizing the child.
“Talk it over with him, take him to his parents, and have some ****ing compassion…” someone said.
“They traumatized that little boy over a bag of chips? Unbelievable,” another wrote.
The third suggested: “Thank god no one made me a juvenile over candies I shoplifted as a 8-10 year old. They just ruined that poor child’s life over a bag of chips. Rational way to handle would be to make kid apologize and get his family involved, instead of shoving him in jail.”
After the clip went viral, Syracuse Police Department addressed the rumors and revealed that the boy was not charged and that the officers brought him directly home to his parents.
“We are aware of a video being shared on social media involving several of our Officers and juveniles accused of stealing from a store on the City’s northside. The incident, including the Officers’ actions and body-worn cameras, are being reviewed,” the department wrote.
“There is some misinformation involving this case. The juvenile suspected of larceny was not placed in handcuffs. He was placed in the rear of a patrol unit where he was directly brought home. Officers met with the child’s father and no charges were filed.”
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