A teen’s arrest on Monday in Woodlawn is attracting a lot of attention on social media.
It all started when Baltimore County Police were notified of a fight going on at a shopping center in the 6600 block of Security Boulevard.
Someone called 911 reporting a man in a wheelchair that was on scene armed with a gun.
Officer Dutterer arrived first and located 19-year-old Keith Leroy Harrison, who matched the suspect description given by the caller.
According to court charging documents, Dutterer noticed “a large bulge” in Harrison’s pocket, at which point he was ordered to show his hands.
Police say a 17-year-old then got involved and began to aggressively challenge Dutterer as he questioned Harrison.
Charging documents say at one point the teen allegedly pushed into Dutterer, before being pushed back by a backup officer named Sokoya.
The teen then reportedly dropped his backpack and took what police described as “a fighting stance” towards Sokoya.
That’s when Sokoya tried to detain the teen, but was met with strong resistance. Sokoya ended up taking the teen to the ground.
Charging documents explain how Sokoya got on top of the teen, shouting for him to turnover with hands behind his back.
Police claim the teen refused, at which time Sokoya began punching him in the head. Between each strike, police say Sokoya continued telling the teen to stop resisting arrest.
This portion of the incident was caught on video by numerous bystanders, quickly going viral.
A third officer eventually arrived and helped Sokoya take the teen into custody.
Meanwhile during the struggle, officer Dutterer handcuffed Harrison. Police wrote in charging documents that Harrison denied having a gun, telling Dutterer that someone had punched him in the face and stolen it.
That apparently turned out to be untrue, as police say they recovered a non-serialized “ghost gun,” from his wheelchair.
Harrison now faces multiple handgun violations, including possessing a concealed firearm while underage.
As for the teen, he was later released to his mother. WMAR-2 News reporter Brittney Verner spoke to an attorney representing the teen’s family, who indicated potential legal action against the involved officers.
“Under no circumstance should anybody do what that officer did,” said attorney Lawrence Greenberg. “If you’ve seen the video, you do not treat humans that way.”
Greenberg added the teen was coming from school and was unarmed at the time of the incident. He denied that the teen assaulted any officers.
“I’ve watched multiple videos and not once do I see an assault occur on any officer,” claimed Greenberg. “The family wants answers.”