POMPANO BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Authorities said they were forced to take down an 11-year-old boy with a Taser inside a Pompano Beach apartment, but his mother said the responding deputies’ actions were unnecessary and have caused lasting effects on her son.
Surveillance video from inside the unit along Ocean Boulevard captured the moment Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies deployed the Taser, then approached and surrounded the child, Jan. 20.
Investigators said the boy had threatened himself and his 10-year-old sister.
Speaking with 7News on Thursday, the children’s mother, Samantha Hinton, shared her account of the tense moments that preceded the encounter with deputies.
“That day, my son had got really mad, and he had grabbed a knife, and he was going after my daughter,” said Hinton.
Wesley he was mad at his sister about a video game.
“I got upset because my sister was antagonizing me, so I did grab the knife, got upset,” he said.
Despite deputies’ efforts to disarm the boy without using force, authorities said, deputies shocked him with a Taser.
Hinton said the incident harmed her son.
“Ever since that day, my son, he doesn’t sleep much, he doesn’t eat much, and he’s very disturbed by this,” she said.
Hinton said she is still upset with the agency and doesn’t agree that deputies should have used a Taser on her child.
But BSO spokesperson Carey Codd said they did exactly what needed to be done.
“Our deputies who responded saved the life of this juvenile male and prevented anyone else who was inside that residence from being injured,” said Codd.
A 911 call appears to have come from within the home.
“He has a knife!” said the caller.
“Is anybody injured?” asked the dispatcher.
“Nobody is injured yet!” said the caller.
On the call, deputies can be heard pleading with Wesley to “put the knife down.”
In their report, deputies wrote, “This would go on for between 30-40 minutes.”
When asked whether he complied with deputies, Wesley replied, “Well, yeah, kind of.”
Hinton said her son did followed the deputies’ orders to drop the weapon, and he was still shocked.
“He trusted them. You know, he throws his hands up in the air, he says, ‘I trust you,’ he backs away from the weapon, and then they Tased him,” she said.
However, surveillance video shows Wesley appearing to almost immediately reach for the knife after he initially put it down, and that’s when when deputies deployed the Taser.
This is not the first time that deputies have been called due to Wesley’s behavior.
“Yes, 13 times,” said Hinton.
In their most recent report, deputies wrote, Wesley “has been placed under a Baker Act 10 times previously.”
The child was Baker Acted following the Jan. 20 incident as well. Neither of his parents rode with him, but BSO took him to the hospital.
“And hopefully started the process where this male juvenile can get the appropriate care and connected to the resources that he desperately needs,” said Codd.
Hinton said she is sharing her story in hopes that deputies can undergo further training, but BSO officials said it was their training that kept everyone safe.
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