Complaint alleges police tasered, beat mentally handicapped Ohio teen

Jesse Kersey, a 17-year-old mentally handicapped boy, was riding his bicycle near his home in Dayton, Ohio last Saturday when officer Willie Hooper pulled him over to talk.

A civil complaint filed in Dayton County this week alleges that Hooper then became confused by the boy's speech impediment and began to shout at Kersey, causing the boy to begin walking back to his mother's home.

That's when Hooper called in backup, causing "an upward of 20" officers to rush onto the scene. As Kersey made his way back home, a neighbor allegedly attempted to tell Hooper about the boy's disability, but was told to return home or face arrest.

Then, according to the complaint, just as Kersey was approaching his front door, officers fired their Tasers into his back

"Once inside the house, defendant Hooper and defendant Howard began to struggle with Jesse, who was standing against the back door with his hands up in front of his face, saying 'Please quit, please quit,'" the complaint explains.

But Hooper did not, allegedly punching the boy on the chest and thigh, then pepper-spraying him in the face.

The complaint adds that Jesse was "hogtied" before being put into a police car and taken to jail.

He was later charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest, but the charges were dropped after Jesse was declared incompetent.

(PDF).

Image credit: Flickr commons.

(H/T: Courthouse News)