Evgen_Prozhyrko/iStock(BERKELEY, W.Va.) — Authorities in West Virginia have released dash-cam video showing police officers allegedly beating a 16-year-old who crashed a car after a high-speed chase.
The video, which was taken on Nov. 19, 2018 and released by the Berkeley County Prosecutor’s Office, shows the teen’s car driving ahead of the police before appearing to hit the brakes and crash into an electric pole in Martinsburg.
After the crash, the officers stop their vehicles nearby and subsequently pull him from the broken driver’s side window in the smoking vehicle. Several officers can be seen then punching and kicking the suspect who is lying on the ground. One officer can even be seen putting a knee to the teen’s neck.
In the video, which has no sound, the teen’s face is blurred. At least five officers can be seen in the dashcam footage. At one point, with the teen’s hands cuffed behind his back, an officer picks him up by the neck and throws him on the ground.
According to ABC News affiliate WCHS-TV, which obtained the footage, the prosecutor’s office said the entire footage from the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office patrol car was 8 minutes, 26 seconds long.
One of the responding officers appeared to have gotten injured in the chase.
In January, two West Virginia state troopers involved in the incident were fired after the incident, according to authorities.
One of those troopers has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly using excessive force that resulted in bodily injury, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of West Virginia said on Wednesday.
He faces a charge of deprivation of rights under color of law, WCHS-TV said.
A second state trooper involved in the incident was also fired, according to WCHS-TV.
Two deputies with the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office were also reportedly fired.
In December, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said the officers’ actions were “plain ridiculous” and “inexcusable.”
“I stand rock-solid with our police force in every way, shape, form or fashion but I’m not gonna stand rock-solid when something’s wrong,” he said.
The Berkeley Prosecutor’s Office said in December the FBI was also investigating the case, along with local authorities.
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