Sobbing 8-year-old accused of stealing chips was put in NY police car. Outrage ensued
An 8-year-old was taken into a police car after he was accused of stealing a bag of chips in New York.
Footage of the incident, which includes the child screaming and crying as he’s taken into the police SUV, has spread across social media and sparked outrage.
The Syracuse Police Department released a statement acknowledging the uproar from the viral video.
“The incident, including the officers’ actions and body-worn cameras, are being reviewed,” the department said in the release. “There is some misinformation involving this case.”
The young boy was stopped after he was accused of stealing Doritos from a store in Syracuse, Syracuse.com reported.
Syracuse resident Kenneth Jackson was passing through the area when he noticed the police had stopped the kid, CNY Central reported. Jackson started filming after he said he saw how frightened the child was, according to the outlet.
“What (are) y’all doing?” Jackson asked one of the officers in his video, posted on Sunday, April 17.
“Guess,” an officer responded in the video, taking the boy to the marked patrol car a few feet away.
A bag of Cool Ranch Doritos sat on the ground at the officer’s feet.
“He’s stealing stuff,” another officer told Jackson in the video.
“If he stole some chips, I’ll pay for them,” Jackson responded and offered to walk the child home.
The argument between the bystanders and police began to escalate in the video before the officers drove away with the boy in the backseat.
The video has garnered more than 54,000 views on Facebook and over 5 million views on Twitter as of April 20.
“I don’t condone stealing. At all,” one commenter wrote on Facebook. “But this just broke my heart to see. That (little) boy was terrified and all those police for one (little) boy. My heart goes out to my city.”
The 8-year-old boy was not placed in handcuffs or charged, police said. Officers drove him back to his home and met with the father, according to the release.
“He’s just a kid,” one user wrote on Twitter.
The department’s statement has over 2,000 comments as of April 20. Some people commented that the video has given viewers a bad impression of the police. Others commended the officers.
“These officers did the right (thing) to take this child home. They took great care of him and his bicycle,” one person commented. “(The) perception of bystanders is understandable because they did not have context. Hopefully, people will feel differently when they know the circumstance.”
“I don’t see an issue, the officers were doing that kid a favor. This is hopefully a lesson that sticks in his mind,” another commented.
”That poor kid didn’t deserve to be treated like that,” another commenter wrote.
Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh also commented on the video.
“The officer knew the child from prior interactions and explained to him that he was being taken home,” Walsh said in a news release about the incident. “The officers returned the child to his family and discussed the incident with his father before leaving without filing any charges.”
Walsh said when he first saw the video on April 18, he was concerned and asked the police department to review the body camera footage.
“What occurred demonstrates the continuing need for the city to provide support to our children and families and to invest in alternative response options to assist our officers,” Walsh said in the release.
