A North Carolina Man has settled his $100,000 excessive force lawsuit against police after being accused of drug possession and body-slammed by an officer.
Tony Scott Jr. of Durham, North Carolina, was a 16-year-old at the time of the incident that occurred on Jan. 23, 2019. Scott along with other high school students went to buy snacks from a convenience store across from their school during their lunch period.
Court documents alleged Durham Police Officer Michael McGlasson “responded to a call that someone was selling drugs inside the store.”
McGlasson’s body camera video captures the moment he enters the store filled with a group of teenagers. He walked toward Scott who is seen standing at the cash register. He was wearing what appears to be a letterman jacket with his last name stitched on the front. McGlasson asks him, “What are you up to?”
Before Scott had a chance to reply, McGlasson said, “I’m going to pat you down real quick.” A hesitant Scott says to McGlasson, “I didn’t even do nothing. What are you doing?”
As McGlasson grabs Scott’s arm, he threatens the teen by saying, “you’re going in handcuffs if you don’t stop.”
“He started grabbing me harder and harder, got ahold of me and threw me,” Scott Jr. recounted during an interview with the News & Observer newspaper.
McGlasson then slams Scott onto the store floor. The two continue to scuffle for a few more seconds until Scott pulls away and runs out of the store.
McGlasson follows Scott outside the store with his service weapon drawn toward the group of teenagers standing in the doorway.
Scott ran into a wooded area nearby. Bodycam shows police searching the wooded area.
Scott “hid in a friend’s SUV as police searched for him,” the News Observer reported.
“They treated him like a runaway slave. They brought dogs out, they brought the sheriff’s office out,” Scott’s attorney Sharika Robinson said in a 2020…
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