The police officers under investigation for roughing up a teenage boy in an incident that was seen by thousands on social media remain on the job, according to RBPF Commissioner Clayton Fernander.
“No, he is not on leave; based on the investigation, a decision will be made,” Fernander said when asked if the officers were on leave.
“That matter is under active investigation. I have instructed my deputy commissioner, [Leamond] Deleveaux, that I want that matter to move through swiftly and where the chips fall [they] will fall.”
Last weekend, a video showing 15-year-old Wellington Walkes, a student at C.V. Bethel High Senior School, being struck by police with a wand and roughed up, went viral on social media. Many accused the officer of police brutality.
The video shows an officer on a golf cart telling Walkes to “go to the bus stop and go home”.
The teenager told the officer he just arrived and was going to get something to eat.
The officer reacted by jumping out of the golf cart, hitting the teen with his wand in his back, and shoving him while asking “who you talking to like that?” He also asked the teen if he is stupid.
The officer in question, and another officer with him, grabbed the teen and push him up against the golf cart.
According to the teen, he and his 10-year-old sister were then taken to the police station at the Mall at Marathon.
Walkes claims other officers taunted and threatened him and continued to accuse him of being disrespectful. His mother, Natasha Hartley, was called to pick him up.
“They made me feel like I was a convicted felon or something,” the teen told The Nassau Guardian earlier this week.
Hartley and Walkes filed a complaint at the RBPF Complaints and Corruption unit.
The teen and his parents have hired attorney Christina Galanos to represent them.
