Video:So it apparently takes 9 Stockton,Cali pigs to arrest 1 black teenage male for "jaywalking"...

Video goes viral; police review arrest

STOCKTON — A viral video that captured the forceful arrest of a 16-year-old boy outside a Stockton bus station earlier this week generated widespread scrutiny and prompted protestors to demonstrate against the Stockton Police Department on Thursday afternoon.

The 2-minute, 26-second video, which was filmed by a bystander Tuesday morning and had been widely disseminated by Thursday, was the No. 1 trending topic on Facebook late Thursday afternoon. The video shows officers detaining and then arresting a boy who authorities said refused an officer’s instructions to stop walking in a bus-only lane outside the San Joaquin Regional Transit District station in downtown Stockton.

“For safety reasons, the officer went over to tell the kid to get out of the bus lane, and the kid started using profane language, telling the officer he didn’t have to listen to him,” said Officer Joe Silva, a spokesman for the Stockton Police Department. “The kid continued to walk in the lane, so the officer went over there to legally detain him, and at that time there was a scuffle.”

When the video begins, the officer is leaning over the boy and using his baton to push down on his legs, which are raised in a defensive position. At one point during the struggle, the boy places his hands on an officer’s baton and says, “Get the (expletive) off me.”

The officer appears to strike the boy at least once and possibly twice with the baton while wrestling the weapon away from him. The boy then grasps the left side of his face. The baton strike elicited an angry response from a woman who witnessed the incident and shouted at the officer throughout the video.

“It’s a kid,” she said. “Get the (expletive) off him. It’s a (expletive) kid. It’s a (expletive) kid. You’re a (expletive) adult. What’s wrong with you?”

Kim Christian, who witnessed the incident, and other critics allege that it is an example of excessive force.

“I was there,” Christian said. “I’m just saying this is a little beyond. I understand protect and serve, but he didn’t deserve to get what he got. It didn’t have to happen like that, not over no damn jaywalking involving a minor. He got hit with the baton and all kinds of stuff.”

Video shows clash between officer, teen in Calif.

Video is circulating on the Internet that appears to show a Stockton, Calif., police officer roughing up a black male teen for what social media commenters say was jaywalking.

Later in the video, up to nine officers are seen restraining the teen, who appears to be crying.

A spokesman for the police department said, however, that the 16-year-old boy was doing more than jaywalking in the Tuesday morning incident, but walking in a bus-only lane reserved for buses to enter a depot and drop off passengers. The teen refused to move when the officer ordered him to move and began using expletives against the officer and telling him he would not move, Officer Joe Silva, public information officer for the agency, told USA TODAY.

Further exacerbating the situation was that the teen grabbed the officer's baton and nearly gained control of it, Silva said. The escalation prompted the officer to call for backup, according to Silva.

"Our officer then used weapon-retention technique -- he was able to get his baton back," Silva said. "If people would just comply with the lawful orders of law enforcement officers and if they didn't try to grab or take away weapons, force would never have to be used."

The family of the teen has filed a formal complaint against the department, Silva said. The teen is not being identified because he is a juvenile, Silva said.

A preliminary investigation appears to show that the officer, who the department did not name, acted correctly, Silva said.

The incident comes at a time when tensions between police agencies and constituents, especially black constituents, have been high and clashes between law enforcement and black males appear to make news on a regular basis.

In the video, a woman can be heard shouting at police to stop roughing up the teen, and saying over and over, "that's a kid!"

Reaction to the incident on the police department’s Facebook page was angry.

“You people are disgusting and need to learn how to respect the community you ‘serve,’ “ wrote Brandon Adams of La Habra Calif. “Go back to the sand box and bully some 3rd graders …. Punks!!!!!!”

“You are disgusting!” wrote John Zolis of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. “A 16 year old kid jay walking deserves this? Exactly why police are hated!”

The teen was cited for trespassing, for blocking the bus lane, and for resisting arrest, Silva said.