MEMPHIS, Tenn. — We’re continuing to dig into allegations of excessive force a teen is leveling against Memphis police officers. The 15-year-old claims officers beat him after he ran from them Friday afternoon.
Police radios were alive with activity as officers frantically pursued a teenage suspect through the streets of north Memphis.
The teenager, who we’re not identifying, was pictured in a hospital room with a knotted up face. His family says it’s the result of what officers did when they finally caught him.
“He said, ‘They just jumped me. They fight me. They just beat the, you know, the mess out of me,” his family said.
The teen admits he was running from police. He says it’s because he was scared.
His cousin claims he eventually stopped and put his hands up in surrender But he says, at the point officers slammed him to the ground and began beating him.
“Then another police officer ran over there and jumped him as well. So he said it was like, three or four police officers,” the teenager’s family said.
Officers were there because a caller says they saw someone firing a gun into the air as a group of teens stood around a 7-UP delivery. That caller thought they might be trying to break into it.
We’ve asked police if they could shed any light on this and if the teen’s family has filed an officials complaint with internal affairs. Our emails went unanswered.
