Fresno police and city to review case of 16-year-old handcuffed in medical episode
The Fresno Police Department’s internal Affairs Unit and the city’s Office of independent Review will review a case involving a 16-year-old boy placed in handcuffs while experiencing a medical episode at a local fast-food restaurant.
Fresno police on Monday afternoon announced the pending reviews in a news release.
The incident took place around 3:51 p.m. Jan. 30 when dispatchers received a call from a family member of the 16-year-old, indicating the boy was experiencing a medical episode.
“The family member stated the 16 year old was combative and harming himself,” the news release says. “The incoming recorded 911 call, confirms that the juvenile was screaming and making threats to kill his family.”
Officers used handcuffs on the teenager to prevent him from hurting himself and others until an ambulance arrived, according to the news release.
The teenager’s mother was identified as Lourdes Ponce by ABC 30. She told the TV station she was outraged her autistic son was placed in handcuffs instead of being taken to the hospital.
Ponce told ABC 30 her son had just left the doctor’s office after experiencing epileptic seizures, and those seizures returned when he was inside the restroom of an El Pollo Loco. When employees of the restaurant unlocked the door and allegedly found the teen on the ground, Ponce said she told her daughter to call for help.
Ponce told the TV station they called the paramedics, not police.
Fresno police released segments of the 911 call on Monday, along with the news release. In the minute and 30 seconds of audio, the teenager can be heard screaming, although his words are not completely clear.
The teenage boy’s sister can be heard telling the dispatcher that the boy is still kind of having a seizure in the restroom, and he wasn’t responding. She can later be heard saying he’s trying to get up and that he’s “very combative.”
According to the news release, the initial review of the body camera footage doesn’t show additional details than those seen on a cell phone video previously released.
“However, we are still compiling body camera footage,” the news release says.
Fresno police on Tuesday released the body cam footage.
This story was originally published February 3, 2020 at 5:01 PM.
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