Heartbreaking moment girl, 11, is reduced to tears as she’s handcuffed after being wrongly accused of car theft Sheriff’s deputies detain unlucky schoolgirl in Syracuse, New York, after her clothing matches description of suspected joyrider.
Having detained and handcuffed the child, who was clearly shocked and upset by the incident, the deputies questioned her for around seven minutes while the girl’s cousin filmed the scene playing out in the snowbound suburban street, helping to lighten the mood by keeping calm and joking with the parties involved.
The relative also worked hard to persuade the deputies that they had the wrong person, pointing out that the suspect in the photo the officers had since been sent, retrieved from the car’s dashcam, had lighter skin, longer hair and different shoes to the person stood before them.
Police officers in New York have apologized over what they say was a case of mistaken identity which saw officers handcuff an 11-year-old Black schoolgirl in Syracuse on Monday afternoon as she walked home from school.
The girl happened to be wearing clothing that closely matched the pink puffy winter jacket, camouflage trousers and white trainers mentioned in the description from which the deputies were working.
