IL: Cop caught on video assaulting special needs student

A 15-year-old boy was beaten by a police officer assigned to his special needs school in a Chicago suburb, the teen's lawyer says.

The assault by a Dolton police officer was caught on tape by a security camera, lawyer Ed Manzke told the Chicago Tribune. Manzke said the incident last May was set off because the student, Marshawn Pitts, did not have his shirt tucked in.

The tape shows the officer slamming the teenager against lockers and then throwing him to the ground and pinning him down, breaking his nose, the newspaper said. "There was no threat of harm to the officer," Manzke said. "There was nothing that a 140-pound kid could say to justify the reaction."

After he was restrained by the officer and school staffers, Pitts was taken to the Dolton police station.

Mayor Ronnie Lewis said the officer involved has been fired, although he said he did not know why. The police department would not comment to the Tribune on the case.

The boy had suffered permanent brain damage after being hit by a car years ago.

Original report here



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