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10-year-old boy speaks out after Chicago police handcuffed him
A 10-year-old Chicago boy is speaking out after being handcuffed by police in a case of mistaken identity.
CHICAGO - The Chicago Police Board ruled Thursday that no officers will face discipline for a 2018 incident in which a 10-year-old boy was handcuffed and searched for weapons.
Michael Thomas Jr. was stopped by officers sent to the area near Roosevelt Road and Sawyer Avenue in June 2018 after someone called 911 to say a boy had a gun, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.
In cellphone video footage, Thomas can be seen on the hood of a squad car with his hands cuffed behind his back as he’s searched by CPD officers.
The boy and his family insisted that officers had the wrong person, and during the search, the boy could be seen urinating in his pants, apparently out of fear, the Sun-Times reported.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability investigated the incident and recommended that two officers, Anthony Spicuzza and Robert Garduno, each be suspended for 30 days.
Police Supt. David Brown, though, disagreed and recommended that Spicuzza and Garduno be found exonerated of any wrongdoing.
At the board’s monthly meeting Thursday, board member John O’Malley agreed with Brown, halting any potential disciplinary proceedings against Spicuzza and Garduno.