Cincinnati cop tases 11-year-old girl for ‘stealing food at a local grocery store’
A police officer from Cincinnati, Ohio used a taser on an 11-year-old girl suspected of shoplifting at a local grocery store on Monday, authorities said. The Cincinnati Police Department said that the officer had used the electroshock weapon on the young girl at around 9:30 pm at a local Kroger in Spring Grove Village, reports state. According to WLWT, police said the 11-year-old was suspected of shoplifting as she was seen placing a lot of food in her backpack.
Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac on Tuesday announced that he had launched an investigation into the case and added that he was “extremely concerned” about use of force by an officer on a child. “We are extremely concerned when force is used by one of our officers on a child of this age,” the police chief said in a news release.
A police report state that the girl refused to stop stuffing food items in the bag and it was then when the officer warned her and stunned her with a taser. The girl, a fifth-grader at Winton Hills Academy, weighs 90 pounds and is 4-foot-11 tall. While Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman also released a statement on the issue, stating “There needs to be a complete investigation. It's hard to understand why an 11-year-old would be tased. I expect answers in 24 hours,” Cincinnati.com reported.
According to Lt. Steve Saunders, taser guidelines in Ohio state that the weapon can be used on anyone who is above the age of seven. However, the guidelines also state that the electroshock weapons can only be used in these cases “for self-defense or to temporarily immobilize a subject who is actively resisting arrest.”
"The TASER may be deployed on a suspect actively resisting arrest when there is probable cause to arrest the suspect or to defend one’s self or another from active aggression," the state guideline states.
Cincinnati police said that the 11-year-old child, who has not been identified, was charged with obstruction of justice and theft. After the incident, the girl was taken to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital and was given the care of a guardian, according to reports.
The police department also added that the responding police officer had tried to turn on his camera but could only get clips of the moments after the child’s detainment.