13-year-old hits cop in face and cop strikes back, AZ video shows. Teen was arrested
Police body cameras caught the moment a 13-year-old girl struck an officer and the cop hit back in Arizona.
Officers had been responding to a reported stolen vehicle on Jan. 31 around 4:30 p.m., the Phoenix Police Department said in a Facebook post.
The stolen vehicle was followed to an apartment complex where police found four people inside of it and began arresting them, police said.
People gathered around, including a 13-year-old teen, as the officers arrested the men, police said.
Police body cameras show officers telling the teen wearing colorful leggings and a hoodie to back away from the scene as a man is being restrained on the ground nearby.
“You are going to get bit by the dog because you are in the way,” an officer told the teen.
The teen backs away but tells officers “they don’t have to do all that” as she walks in front of an officer who was trying to put the man in a patrol car, the video shows.
She begins walking toward other officers when she is pulled and pushed away by a female cop, the footage shows.
The video shows the teen strike that officer, and then the police officer punches her back. Officers then handcuff the teen as they hold her to the ground, as someone in the background repeatedly tells the officers the girl is a minor.
Police confirmed the teen was hit in the face and they said she was evaluated for minor injuries before being booked into the Juvenile Corrections on a charge of aggravated assault on a police officer.
The Phoenix Police Department is investigating the incident, and they ask anyone with information to contact them.
This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 11:29 AM with the headline "13-year-old hits cop in face and cop strikes back, AZ video shows. Teen was arrested."
