New Mexico police officer who wrestled 11-year-old girl to ground for taking too much milk from school lunchroom resigns
A New Mexico police officer who was caught on bodycam footage using excessive force on an 11-year-old girl and injuring her because she allegedly took too much milk from the lunchroom has stepped down from his position.
In the video, which was uploaded in its entirety by the Farmington Police Department, Zachary Christensen, a resource officer for the Mesa View Middle School, can be heard muttering, "We're to the point where (school staff) can't do anything, they can't get any interventions in because she [the victim] won't listen to anything."
He then confronts the girl and says, "You can't push him out of the way. I've had enough of this. You're done. You're not going to assault the principal," before pulling her backpack off, pinning her to a wall, and then wrestling her to the ground.
He tells her "Do not resist" multiple times as he tries to handcuff her, even as she cries and tells him that he's hurting her. The girl was eventually let go, but reportedly suffered a concussion and now has arm and shoulder pain.
Christensen claimed he tried to arrest the girl because she "went straight to the cafeteria, she took more milks than she was supposed to, she threw a milk on the ground," and "just walks off" when they try to tell her something.
He was placed on administrative leave following the incident, and the case was referred to the New Mexico State Police, who subsequently found that the officer's assertions that the girl had assaulted the principal were false, and found him guilty of violating departmental policies. He later stepped down from his position.
Speaking about Christensen's resignation, Farmington Police Chief Steven Hebbe said the behavior witnessed in the video did not comply with their department's standards and that there was no excuse for the way the young girl was treated.
"When we fall short of our expectations and standards, we hold ourselves accountable," he said in a video posted on the department's Facebook page. "Like many of you, I was shocked and angry when I watched this video. We value our relationship with our community and will continue to work hard to maintain the public's confidence in our department."
Hebbe also revealed that the supervisor they had placed in charge of the six other resource officers they had at the school had been removed from his position because he had failed to identify the situation as unacceptable.
However, Mark Curnutt, the attorney for the girl's family, told KRQE News 13 that they are still planning to take legal action over the incident as well. "While it is appreciated that the principal and vice-principal asked the officer to stop, there is a question as to what the administrators could have done to prevent this from occurring at all," he said.