Football club reveals why it called police on teens
An Auckland football club captain is grateful its members were playing a game near where a police officer was filmed punching and arresting a 13-year-old boy.
Before the incident they contacted police after several teenagers fled to their nearby clubrooms for safety from other teenagers chasing them.
On Monday a video was revealed showing a police officer in Pakuranga punching a 13-year-old boy in the ribs as he lay on the ground while being subdued.
The father of the boy said his son had been aggressively arrested by two police officers for riding his bike without a helmet and he had made a complaint.
Police said officers had responded to reports of teens acting aggressively on Sunday and the footage of the arrest did not show the background to the callout. The 13-year-old was now facing four charges in relation to the incident.
Fencibles United AFC youth captain Jeannine Melville said the club was hosting teams from Northland at the clubrooms near where the incident was videoed.
A small group of teenagers turned up at the Fencibles clubrooms seeking refuge from other youths believed to be part of the group of 15 hanging out at the William Green Domain near the Pakuranga Highway.
The clubrooms are located on the corner of Pakuranga Highway and Bucklands Beach Rd, about a two- minute walk from where the video was recorded.
A few minutes later another group of teenagers turned up trying to get to the others.
But one of the club’s coaches told them to “turn tail”, which they did and waited outside, before he phoned the police.
Police arrived about five minutes after the call was made and remained on site for a further 90 minutes, she said.
The father said he believed his son was not wearing a helmet and police called to him to get off his bike and speak to them. He then rode off and was followed by a police officer who had taken a bike from one of the other youths at the scene.
After a short time the police and the teen returned to the spot where the filmed incident happened.
Counties Manukau East area commander Wendy Spiller said police received several calls about the behaviour of a group of teenagers, with a member of the public telling police the boys were aggressive and trying to fight other people in Highland Park about 3.30pm on Sunday.
“Police staff quickly attended and tried to speak with the teenagers, however the main aggressor, who was 13 years old, quickly tried to get away from police on a pushbike and was biking into traffic and ran through a red light.
“The officer managed to borrow another bike and followed him for several minutes, and caught up to him,” Spiller said.
“It is at this point that people were filming on their cellphones and you see police trying to handcuff the teenager who was resisting arrest.
“The officer is shown carrying out a tactic that can be used to get an offender to release their arm so that we put handcuffs on them.”
Spiller said the 13-year-old had been charged with disorderly behaviour, failing to stop, dangerous driving and resisting police.