Has school destroyed your creativity and self-confidence? I'm working on a book called Recovering From School, to help you heal the damage caused. Join the Patreon or Newsletter to be notified about updates. Paid Patreon members will get early draft previews, as well as a free digital copy when it's done.

Police Mistake 13 Year Old For a Car Thief

When he was yanked from his family's minivan and shoved to the ground by two large men, Brandon thought he was being mugged.
Then he saw the gun.

"It freaked me out," the 13-year-old Surrey youth said yesterday. "I didn't know what to think."
It wasn't until he felt handcuffs clamp his wrist that he realized the men were police officers and he was in the middle of a big misunderstanding.
"I guess they thought I was robbing the van," he said. "They didn't think it through. I was just in there looking for a DVD."
Brandon's mother, Skye, who doesn't want the family's last name used, has filed a complaint against the Surrey RCMP. She's demanding an apology for her son and some kind of compensation for his injuries.
"We don't want this to happen to anyone else," she said. "These men weren't wearing uniforms and they didn't identify themselves to my son. Then they pushed him to the ground and banged his face into the pavement twice. It's not right."
It's been almost two weeks since Skye filed the complaint -- and while the scrapes on Brandon's face and legs are healing, the family has yet to hear from police. No apology, no explanation.
"They should at least acknowledge us," she said yesterday.
The incident happened Aug. 25, when the family went to The Groove hair studio in Delta for back-to-school haircuts.
While waiting his turn, Brandon went to the family's minivan in the parking lot to get a DVD to play in his brother's mini-player.
"All of a sudden I heard yelling from outside and I thought, 'Brandon's out there,' " said Skye. "It was really scary."
Brandon was pulled from the van and bounced off another vehicle before he hit the pavement, he said: "My face was cut up a little bit and then I raised my head and the guy punched me twice."
The studio's owner, Ash Sugrive, and Brandon's older brother, Jerrod, ran outside to see a large man pinning the 110-pound Grade 8 student to the ground with his knee and another man putting a gun away.
"I told the man, 'This is my client's son,' and he told me to back away," said Sugrive. "It was excessive use of brute force.
If . . . you have a kid you think is stealing a car, all you have to do is pull him out and tell him you're the police. They shoved him onto the pavement and pulled a gun. It was just silly."
The family was later told the two Surrey RCMP officers were having dinner at a Boston Pizza in the same plaza as the hair studio. They allegedly saw Brandon in the family's minivan, thought he was robbing it and sprang into action.
Once they realized their mistake, said Sugrive, they released Brandon.
The offices didn't have keys to the cuffs and had to have someone bring them. An ambulance was called and paramedics cleaned Brandon's scrapes.
Surrey RCMP spokesman Const. Marc Searle acknowledged the family's complaint but said he couldn't comment.
"As soon as it enters the complaint process, it's not fair to any of the parties involved to comment," Searle said. "Of course we take complaints very seriously, and the family will have to wait as we go through the process."

Posted by: SoulRiser
Source Article

Posted in: News on September 13, 2006 @ 12:00 AM

Tags: School

If you like what we're doing here, you can become a Patron and sign up for our newsletter!