Arrest of teen girl in S.F. probed

Cops say they used force after she spit on them

San Francisco police said Tuesday they are conducting an internal investigation of a use-offorce incident connected to the arrest of a teenage girl on Monday that prompted accusations of brutality by witnesses, who said the girl lost consciousness after police slammed her onto the concrete and a car.

Officer Robert Rueca, a spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department, said Tuesday that force was used to subdue the girl after she spit at officers, but he declined to say what type of force officers used. He also could not confirm whether the girl became unconscious as a result.

According to a Police Department statement, the officers “summoned medics to the scene as a

precaution,” following the use-of-force incident.

Police said the incident started after an on-duty officer wearing plain clothes saw the girl and followed her to the Downtown Smoke and Vapes store at 1072 Market St. around 1 p.m. She was wanted, police said, on an arrest warrant for multiple charges of burglary.

Two uniformed officers apprehended the girl in the store, police said, and a “physical struggle ensued.”

“During this struggle, the subject assaulted two officers by spitting in their faces,” officials said in the statement. “A use of force occurred to prevent the subject from spitting at the officers again.”

Witnesses at the scene told The Chronicle that police brought the girl out of the store in handcuffs, that she resisted and that police slammed her into the ground and a car, knocking her unconscious.

The girl was released from the hospital and has been charged with two counts of assaulting officers and resisting arrest.

Any time a use-of-force incident is reported, the department conducts an investigation, Rueca said. He could not confirm how many use-of-force incidents involving minors have been investigated by police at the time of publication.

A video taken from a witness across the street from the scene shows the motionless teenage girl propped up against a fire hydrant while at least 15 police officers stand nearby on the sidewalk. The video shows a paramedic placing a white bag known as a “spit hood” over the girl’s head before strapping her onto a stretcher and into an ambulance.

Rueca said personnel placed the hood over her head because of the potential for her spitting at officials again.

The officers who were allegedly spat on were “medically treated at the scene and released,” police said in the statement.

Police have informed the girl’s parents or guardians of her arrest, Rueca said.

Rueca said additional officers responded to the scene because of a growing crowd of bystanders that started to get “unruly” and had the potential to become violent.

“We know that this caught the attention of bystanders during the incident, and we understand their perspective may be different, but we’re trained to use the appropriate response and use reasonable force whenever and wherever possible,” Rueca said.

Rueca said officers consider a spectrum of tactics when trying to control a suspect during an arrest, including using verbal commands; going “hands-on”; using pepper spray; using a baton; using an extended-range impact weapon that deploys bean bags from an instrument that looks like a shotgun, which Rueca says is at the same level as a baton; and finally, using a firearm.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the San Francisco Police Department at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and begin their text message with SFPD. Callers may remain anonymous.