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LANCASTER, Pennsylvania (WGAL) -- The Lancaster City Bureau of Police reviewed three officers' use-of-force in the arrest of teen bicyclists and ruled it as justified.
The press conference Tuesday was at police headquarters, and was a media-only event hosted by the mayor and police chief.
The review was of an incident that happened on March 2 just after 6 p.m.
Chief Richard Mendez says officers initially attempted to stop more than a dozen teens who were riding their bikes recklessly through traffic.
"Officers attempted to stop the juveniles by pulling their marked police vehicle in front of them," says Chief Mendez. "The juveniles dispersed in different directions when they exited their vehicle."
Five minutes later, and officers spotted the same teens still riding their bikes on North Duke Street and East Chestnut Street.
This is when officers approached two 15 and 16-year-old bicyclists.
"Officers directed them to stop and had the two individuals remove themselves from the bike and be placed in a seated position to identify them," says Chief Mendez. "They were asked to provide their names and they were not fully cooperative, stating repeatedly that they did nothing wrong."
Chief Mendez says as they were being arrested for disorderly conduct, an officer tried to place one of the teens in a handcuffed position by rolling him onto his stomach using controlled techniques.
This is when Chief Mendez says the officer placed his knee on the lower back of the teen.
"Soft open hand technique requires the least amount of force used to effect and safely arrest someone," says Chief Mendez.
The second officer rolled the other teen on his stomach to put his hands behind his back.
"As the officer reached under the juvenile arm to bring their hands behind his back, the juvenile continued to resist," says Chief Mendez. "This resulted in the knuckles of the juvenile scraping the sidewalk, and caused him to have abrasions on the back of his hands."
A third juvenile was charged with disorderly conduct in the incident as well.
Chief Mendez says during the arrests, a third officer deployed pepper spray at 'onlookers' for the safety of the arrestees and the arresting officers.
The use-of-force review included the videos posted to social media, body-worn cameras, dashboard cameras, and reports from the officers on scene.
"The two juveniles arrested have repeatedly engaged in unsafe activities that could lead to serious bodily harm or even death without immediate intervention," says Chief Mendez. "These two juveniles, along with their larger group of peers, have engaged in trespassing, falsely pulling fire alarms, repeatedly obstructing traffic, riding recklessly near pedestrians and creating unsafe road conditions."
Chief Mendez says the teens have been previously charged in those situations, and educational tactics have been attempted.
"On several of these occasions, the juveniles were educated by our officers on the importance of riding safely, including riding with proper lights and reflectors," says Chief Mendez.
Lack of reflectors and lights is what the department said its officers initially tried engaging with the teen bicyclists about.
The two teens were charged with disorderly conduct, evading arrest or detention on foot, riding on roadways and pedal cycle paths, and lack of lights and reflectors.
The video of their arrests has gone viral on social media. Many community members attended last week's city council meeting to share outrage over the situation.
"Officers typically have only minutes, sometimes mere seconds, to assess the situation and make a critical decision," says Chief Mendez. "We understand watching an arrest unfold can stir a range of emotions, which is a natural and human response. Unfortunately, this is a reality of our job and officers cannot take their safety for granted."
Despite the cellphone videos online, the bureau will not release anything that could identify the teens involved, which is standard practice for all juvenile-related incidents according to the department.
