CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – A fight between students after school ended in an arrest, but was a body slam by one officer too rough?
On video, you see a Coral Springs police officer trying to apprehend an 18-year-old and you can hear the officer pleading with the young man to calm down.
“Relax, relax, relax. I don’t want to hurt you,” he says.
Seconds later, another officer arrives and that is the moment that’s now being brought into question.
It’s a body slam that some students say was unnecessary.
One student said, “I was shocked. They didn’t have to do that.”
This all allegedly stemmed from a fight between classmates at Coral Springs Senior High School and then the fight spilled over into a plaza parking lot across the street from the campus.
Students told Local 10 News that the teen that was arrested was trying to stop a fight between his brother and another student.
Officers said when they arrived, the teen took off running and then resisted arrest.
One student said that from what he saw what police did was wrong.
“There were way too many cops on that guy. Way too many cops.”
Coral Springs police department is standing behind the officers’ actions saying:
“The department trains officers regularly on de-escalating techniques which were used and attempted prior to the officer taking the subject to the ground. Once immobilized, the officer and his backup were able to de-escalate their response and safely place the subject under arrest.”
The teens parents were immediately notified, but no word yet if the 18-year-old was back in school on Friday.