A 14-year-old male sucker-punched a Florida sheriff’s deputy in the head during a disturbance over the weekend, authorities said. Then the kid got a dose of his own medicine after resisting arrest.
What are the details?
A Lee County sheriff’s deputy responded to a call about a disturbance around 11:30 p.m. Saturday at the Lee County Fair in Fort Myers, the Miami Herald reported, adding that the deputy ended up facing a crowd of teens.
The Herald, citing an affidavit, reported that a “male in a black hoodie, covering his face, walked up next to” the deputy “then struck [the deputy] with a closed fist to the left side of the face, hitting his ear and facial area.”
The document added that the deputy then “grabbed the subject and escorted the subject to the ground [and] informed the subject he was under arrest for battery of a law enforcement officer,” the paper said.
When the 14-year-old male resisted being placed in handcuffs, the deputy delivered “a closed handed strike” to the side of the teen’s head, the Herald added, citing the report.
With that, “compliance was gained, the subject was handcuff[ed], and force was discontinued,” the paper added, citing the affidavit.
The Fort Myers teen is charged with battery on an officer and resisting without violence, officials told the Herald.
Another teen also punched another deputy
During the arrest of the 14-year-old male, another deputy reported being punched in the face by someone in the crowd, the paper said.
The affidavit reported that the 17-year-old male continued swinging his fists at the deputy while being arrested, the Herald noted.
The older teen, who also lives in Fort Myers, also was charged with battery of an officer and resisting an officer without violence, officials told the paper.
“Due to the subjects being juveniles, their respective parents were notified,” officials added to the Herald.
How are folks reacting?
More than 1,600 comments and counting have been offered underneath the Herald’s story on Yahoo News, and you might say folks are decidedly in the deputies’ corner. Here are a few of them:
- “These teenagers [these] days are full-grown sized men. They also have the wolf pack mentality when in groups like that,” one commenter said. “Glad he got a taste of his own medicine.”
- “Knee to the face would have been appropriate response,” another commenter said. “Just enough to shatter his nose.”
- “Isn’t it funny how the teen responded after the officer took force against him?” another commenter observed. “Kids these days aren’t punished for their actions and think they can get away with anything. I hope both teens are punished as if they’re adults.”
- “Many of today’s youth are the size of fully grown men or women, and they know they can do a lot of damage,” another commenter added. “Their age becomes a factor when it’s punishment time, and they get a slap on the wrist and a sealed police record. So tired of hearing some parents automatically claim my poor baby is a good boy or girl and then hire a lawyer, especially when the kid needs the belt at home. …”
- “He deserves more than just a slap on the wrist from our court system. I have little doubt this will be the last run-in with law enforcement for this individual,” another commenter predicted. “Starting off down this road at 14 is no way to begin life.”
- “I smiled when I read ‘compliance was gained’ after the deputy delivered a closed-handed strike to the side of the head,” another commenter said. “Hats off to the deputy.”