Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Monday that he has “concerns” about an encounter captured on cellphone video last week that shows deputies detaining at gunpoint Black teens who, consistent with their lawyer, had been assaulted by a person with a knife.
The lawyer, Brown, said that bystanders called authorities after three teens, a minimum of two of whom are Black, were harassed and assaulted by the person.
“After having been attacked with a knife, minutes later, they experienced numerous cops pointing guns at them,” Brown said during a statement. “So two life-and-death situations during a matter of minutes.”
In a brief statement on the department’s Facebook page, Villanueva said that investigators are looking into the incident, which occurred Friday near a Buffalo Wild Wings in Santa Clarita, north of l. a.
“A involve service was received as a felony assault, and therefore the deputies detained people who were allegedly involved,” he said. Villanueva added that he has “concerns about the tactics employed” during a video of the encounter posted on Instagram.
.The video shows two officers who appear to possess their weapons drawn standing outside a cruiser. a 3rd emerges from an SUV with a rifle and points it at the teenagers, who are eventually taken into custody.
Nobody seen within the video has been publicly identified.
A spokeswoman from the sheriff’s office declined to mention if the teenagers were arrested.
In the video, a lady who identifies herself as a manager of Buffalo Wild Wings tells the officers that she called 911 to alert officers to a Hispanic man “chasing three African Americans with a skateboard.”
“I told your sergeant who was the matter and what was happening and for you to act this manner is ridiculous,” the lady says.
A spokesman for Buffalo Wild Wings' parent company, Inspire Brands, said the lady wasn't available for comment but confirmed she may be a manager at the chain's Santa Clarita restaurant.
In the video, a deputy says he was "pretty sure" a politician was with the Hispanic man also . “Everyone gets detained,” he said.
Another deputy says on the video that the officers are on another involve service.
“Someone was hit with a skateboard,” he says. “These three gentlemen were described within the call.”
Brown, the lawyer, said he wasn’t sure what happened to the person with the knife. He added that the teenagers did nothing wrong.
“The young men were extremely frightened to ascertain officers pointing guns at them,” he said, adding, "It was traumatizing."
NEWS Source:NBC button
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