LAKELAND, Fla. — 10 Tampa Bay has obtained video of two police officers punching and using a Taser on a 16-year-old boy in an incident stemming from an argument during a Memorial Day pool party.
It’s another in a growing list of accusations of police brutality against the Lakeland Police Department.
“It’s disgusting how he was treated,” Ja’Tae Lewis said.
Lewis’ 16-year-old son, Jahmal Hudson, is the person in the video being punched and tased by Lakeland police. Witnesses to the altercation can be heard yelling to the officers letting them know Hudson is a minor.
The video does not show what led up to the altercation. However, Hudson said he was attending a pool party that was broken up when a neighbor called the police. He says he went back to the pool to retrieve his shirt when a verbal confrontation with officers escalated.
“They were told to leave, and they were leaving. When that comment was said that’s when all hell broke loose,” Lewis explained.
That comment, according to Jahmal, had to do with his weight. He says one of the officers told him he needed to be next door at the gym instead of the pool. He admits he was angered and put his hand in the officer’s face telling him he didn’t want to hear anything more from him.
In the video, Hudson is punched multiple times, with one officer gripping him by the hair.
Hudson is then then tased before falling to the ground.
“Nobody, none of those kids touched those police officers before then. It was just a verbal argument. Between a grown man and a 16-year-old boy,” Lewis said. “I have seven police officers’ names and badges. Everyone that I talked to, no one want to speak to me.”
The police affidavit states as they tried to control Hudson, he flailed at them, landing a punch to the arresting officer's face. Lewis said it was her son who was battered.
“His whole jaw was swollen. His ear was swollen. His lip was busted. He has a patch of hair missing from his head from one of the police officers pulling his hair,” she said.
Lewis said her son was taken to the hospital and released, but that she brought him back for further tests after seeing the video for herself.
“My son is pinned in a corner. No other place to go but forward to defend himself,” she said. “I threw up. I was sick to my stomach. I was sick.”
This latest allegation of police brutality comes just three days after local community activists demanded Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor reopen the investigation into officers involved in the highly publicized videotaped confrontation with Antwan Glover.
The Polk State Attorney recently announced charges against Glover had been dropped.
“Although we have several cases that we have been dealing with in Lakeland, I think that this is the most disturbing,” Pastor Clayton Cowart with the Poor Minority Justice Association said. “Beating him, with a taser, hitting him, knocking him down. That’s excessive. This, the entire community is saying, 'Wait a minute - this is a 16-year-old. This is a child.'”
Hudson was in juvenile court Tuesday facing charges of trespassing, battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest. He was appointed a public defender and told to stay home until his next court hearing on June 7.
10 Tampa Bay has also requested a copy of any police body-cam images from the incident. In the video, officers are clearly wearing the cameras, but it's not clear whether they were activated at the time of the confrontation.
Lakeland police say Chief Sam Taylor is aware of the incident, has met with community leaders about it and has already requested an administrative review by the Office of Professional Standards.