DETROIT – Two Detroit Police Officers are accused of roughing up a 20-year-old man without any cause -- and it’s all caught on camera.
It happened Wednesday, Aug. 30, at about 4 p.m. in front of the man’s home on Riopelle Street.
His mother spoke to Local 4 but wanted to remain anonymous as they are still shaken up by the incident.
She said her 20-year-old son was walking home from the dollar store, put his phone in his pocket and when he was feet from their front porch, things took a turn.
It’s difficult for her to watch the incident unfold on their home security camera. It’s even harder to put it into words.
“Wednesday my son was attacked by the police. He was pushed to the ground because they assumed he had a gun in his hand and he didn’t,” said the mother. “It was a cell phone.”
At the time, she was inside the house asleep.
The video shows police eventually letting her 20-year-old son go. When she woke up to her son shouting, she said she tracked down the officers a few blocks away, confronted them and then went to the precinct to file a report.
Detroit Police Department’s assistant chief, Eric Ewing said it’s under investigation.
“After reviewing the video, myself and the chief are very concerned about what we saw,” said Ewing.
It’s unclear why the young man was stopped, Ewing said it was not part of a search for a suspect in the area.
“This appeared to be just a general traffic stop but the way it was handled gives us a little concern,” Ewing said.
The two 11th precinct officers involved are on desk duty until the investigation is completed.
But this mother believes the damage is already done noting her son does not have physical injuries but is traumatized.
“You know we look up to police officers so for him to even see the police are targeting him, what do you do next, that’s our protection,” the mother said. “And for him not to be able to stand in front of his own home and feel like he’s safe? That’s a bad thing for our community, that’s a bad thing for society.”
That’s why they came forward, as difficult as it was.
“People need to be held accountable for their actions, some police maybe need to be retrained because if they’re out there thinking like that, that’s very scary,” the mom said.
The family does have a lawyer. The mother said her son doesn’t have any physical injuries, but she is concerned about emotional damage.
Detroit police confirmed the officers were wearing body cameras during the time of the incident.