By Anne Hayes
syracuse.com
Syracuse, N.Y. — When three Syracuse police officers responded to reports of three juveniles stealing chips from a Dollar General on Syracuse’s North Side they were immediately frustrated when they found the suspects.
They were all too familiar with the three brothers who were accused of stealing Doritos just after noon Sunday from the Dollar General on Butternut Street on Syracuse’s North Side.
A video of the encounter, filmed by a bystander, went viral and led to widespread condemnation of police. In a news conference on Thursday morning, Syracuse Police officials and Mayor Ben Walsh released about 15 minutes of body-worn camera footage of the incident that also showed what happened before and after the viral video.
The department has released all of the body-worn camera footage — recordings from all three officers involved.
“Some of the video is hard to watch,” Syracuse Police First Deputy Chief Joe Cecile said at the news conference. “This morning, you saw more video from body cams of what occurred that day, a well-rounded story with a positive outcome.”
Here’s a synopsis of the videos police showed and discussed at the news conference:
When officers saw the three young children suspected of the thefts, they immediately jumped out of their cars and confronted them. One officer can be heard yelling “what are you doing” before an 8-year-old, who was sitting on his bike, dropped the bag of chips he was holding.
It was quickly clear that the officers were very familiar with the children involved. When Officer Matthew Behuniak, approached the 8-year-old, he asked the child if he remembered the last interaction they had.
“Didn’t we just go through this,” Behuniak said. “You were crying in the backseat of my car, remember that?”
Behuniak then instructs the child to get off his bike, before dumping the bag of chips onto his lap.
The child tells the officer, “It wasn’t me,” before being instructed to get off his bike again.
As Behuniak, who is holding the child by his hood, begins to pull him off the bike, you can hear a bystander demand that the officer removes his hands from the child. That bystander, Kenneth Jackson, filmed the video that went viral.
The officer pulls the child off the bike as Jackson continues to yell at the officer.
When the 8-year-old is pulled off the bike, another child involved tries to pull the 8-year-old away from the officer before giving up and stepping back.
Moments later, Jackson begins filming the now-viral video of the encounter. The child, being restrained by Behuniak, begins screaming that he was not the one that stole the chips.
Behuniak yells to Jackson that he does not understand the situation and should leave them to do their jobs.
Officer David Circiriello approaches Jackson to explain that the child was stealing things while Behuniak attempts to put the child into the back of the patrol car. Buhuniak later explains that he will be taking the child home.
The 8-year-old struggles with the officer as he attempts to get out of the car. Behuniak eventually pushes the child further away from the door and quickly closes it. Behuniak did not place a seatbelt on the child.
Once the child is in the car, Behuniak continues the verbal altercation with Jackson.
Behuniak points toward Jackson and tells him had he committed the same crime, he would be taken to jail, but the kids will be brought home.
The video shown by police then transitions to a clip from inside the patrol car as Behuniak drives the child home. The child continues to scream and begins banging on the barricade between the back seat and the front seat of the patrol car.
Behuniak tells the child that he is taking him home and tells him if he doesn’t want to be in this situation he has to stop stealing things.
The child continues to say that he was not the one who stole the chips while crying in the back seat of the patrol car.
The final video shown by police begins when the officers release the children to their father and begin a talking with him and the children in the street.
“What’s happening again today is the three of them are riding around the city, going into stores and grabbing up stuff and running out,” Behuniak told the father.
The father of the children shows visible frustration and disappointment with the situation. He explains that he is busy working and his wife is sick, making it difficult to keep a close eye on their kids.
The father even asks the officers if the kids could be detained for a while. The officers explains that they cannot detain the boys based on their ages and the petty nature of their crimes.
After speaking with the father, the officers join him to address the three children directly. Together the father and police explain to the children that they need to learn to be respectful of others and their property.
One officer asks the boys why they choose to lock up their bikes. The boys explain that they don’t want them to be stolen. The officer tells the boys that if they don’t like it when people take their things, they should consider that before stealing from others.
The officers ended the interaction by telling the children they did not want to meet them like this again. However, they hoped if they saw the kids around, they would be able to have a friendly conversation with them.
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