SYRACUSE, NY. – An 8-year-old boy who was seen in a now-viral video being detained by police in Syracuse, New York, was issued a juvenile appearance ticket Thursday night after police say he committed yet another crime.
The boy was detained Sunday for allegedly stealing a bag of chips from a store, and now police say he is accused of threatening another child and stealing that child’s bicycle.
He will now have to appear in family court.
Video of the boy went viral this week after a witness recorded cellphone video of the boy being handled by three officers.
The boy is heard screaming and crying while being put in the police cruiser by three officers.
Kenneth Jackson recorded the incident and tried to intervene.
“What is ya’ll dong?” Jackson asks the officers.
“Guess -- take a guess at what I’m doing,” one of the officers responds.
Another officer tells Jackson the boy was stealing.
“He look like a baby to me,” Jackson tells the officers. “If he stole some chips, I’ll pay for them.”
Jackson spoke with ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.
“I had to, because at that moment I’m looking around and I noticed there’s no one out there besides myself at the time,” he said. “More audience was starting to gather, but no one was actually intervening.”
Now people who have seen the video are debating what the appropriate course of action should be in this type of situation.
“We have a policing problem when it comes to policing the community. And clearly, as the world can see, there’s a big, big, big disconnect,” Jackson said.
Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh weighed in on the incident, saying body camera footage shows the boy was never placed in handcuffs.
“The officer knew the child from prior interactions and explained to him that he was being taken home,” Walsh said. “The officers returned the child to his family and discussed the incident with his father before leaving without filing any charges.”
“What occurred demonstrates the continuing need for the city to provide support to our children and families and to invest in alternative response options to assist our officers,” Walsh added.
The boy’s father, Anthony Weah, acknowledged that what his son did was wrong, however after seeing the video, he intends to file a complaint with the police department.
Syracuse police said the incident is under investigation and they cannot comment on the matter.