HOME / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

SHOCKING video shows Syracuse cops arrest Black boy, 10, for stealing a bag of chips

The child, with his hands pinned against his back, appears traumatized as he screams and cries in fear

In a shocking video, police in Syracuse, New York, were seen arresting a Black boy for stealing a packet of chips. The video shows at least four cops dragging the 10-year-old boy and forcing him into a patrol car. The child, with his hands pinned against his back, appears traumatized. He can be seen crying and screaming in fear.

The person filming the arrest yells at one point, "What ya'll doing?" "Guess! Take a guess what I'm doing," an officer responds, to which the man says, "He looks like a baby to me. I don't know what you're doing. So what's going on then?" 

READ MORE

Who was Patrick Lyoya? SHOCKING video shows cop kneeling over Black man shoot him in the head

Michael Hayes: California man charged with shooting Black man 7 times

"He's stealing stuff. If he breaks into your house…," another officer says, and the man responds in disbelief, "Nah man! What he stole a bag of chips so you gotta treat him like a cold-blooded f**king criminal?" The officers told the man to mind his own business and let the police do their job.

"Keep walking dude, you don't know even know what you're talking about," one officer says, to which the man behind the camera responds, "I know what I just came up and see! 'I know what I just came up and see!" He asks the officers why they were arresting the child, and the officers told him it was because he had stolen a snack. The man then offers to pay for what the child had stolen, if it meant the cops would let him go.

"I see you snatching him up the butt like he's a grown-a** man - and he said it wasn't him!" the man says. "If he stole some chips, I'll pay for them. I'll pay for them! Leave him alone! He's a kid!" The video ends as the boy is still heard crying.

Syracuse Police Department is now reportedly investigating the incident. "We are aware of a video being shared on social media involving several of our Officers and juveniles accused of stealing from a store on the City's northside. The incident, including the Officers' actions and body-worn cameras, are being reviewed," the department said in a statement. "There is some misinformation involving this case. The juvenile suspected of larceny was not placed in handcuffs. He was placed in the rear of a patrol unit where he was directly brought home. Officers met with the child's father and no charges were filed."