Shocking moment Wyoming sheriff grapples with disabled eight-year-old student

Shocking moment Wyoming sheriff grapples with disabled eight-year-old student before pinning him on the ground and leaving him with severe head bruising

• Parents of an eight-year-old disabled student are filing a lawsuit against the Laramie County Sheriff's Department
• Emily and Ishmael DeJesus alleged that a deputy officer tackled and bruised their son and then deleted bodycam footage of the incident 
• Officer Benjamin Jacquot left the second grader with trauma and 'permanent psychological injuries', according to the complaint 

Daily Mail  - The parents of an eight-year-old disabled boy are filing a lawsuit against the Laramie County Sheriff's Department in Wyoming after claiming shocking bodycam footage showed their son getting brutalized by a cop.

Emily and Ishmael DeJesus said that a deputy from the Laramie County Sheriff's Department violated their son's Fourth and 14th Amendment rights and violated federal disability laws, according to the complaint.

They allege that Benjamin Jacquot - a school resource officer - beat up the second grader and deleted the bodycam footage.

The boy - who has a neuro-divergent disability as well as ADHD - was on an individualized education plan at Freedom Elementary School in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

The education plan involved regular lunchtime check ins at the principal's office.

Shortly before his visit on February 15, 2022 - the little boy had allegedly made unpleasant comments to an adult lunch cashier.

At no point did the second-grader do anything that indicated he was a threat to himself or anyone else and he was allegedly responding well to the behavior intervention, the complaint said.

The school principal discussed whether the eight-year-old should apologize to the lunch worker for his behavior.

When the meeting was over Jacquot - who allegedly knew of the boy's disability - escorted him out of the principal's office, which is when things turned violent.

The DeJesus parents claimed that Jacquot deleted the part of the bodycam footage that came next.

'According to Principal (Chad) Delbridge's written report, Deputy Jacquot grabbed (the boy) by the arm when (he) stood up and began walking away from Principal Delbridge to return to class,' the complaint said.

'Deputy Jacquot, nevertheless, forcibly wrestled (him) into a nearby conference room using an armlock where the assault grew violent,' it continued.

The complaint alleged that the deputy repeatedly 'slammed' the boy's face down onto the floor of the conference room - which caused multiple bleeding face injuries that were later pictured.

Jacquot weighed 280 pounds at the time of the alleged attack and the boy weighed only 68 pounds.

The complaint stated: 'The undeleted body cam video returns at (timestamp) 5:16, at which point (the boy) is pinned underneath Deputy Jacquot while (the boy) screams and cries in pain and fear.'

Allegedly - the little boy said 'I give up' in the bodycam footage after the deputy pinned him down and impaired his breathing.

'I should be taking you to jail!' Jacquot shouted back, the complaint claims.

After the alleged attack - the principal called Ishmael DeJesus and told him to come to the elementary school to collect his son.

DeJesus and Jacquot had a verbal dispute before the father took his son to hospital for treatment.

The complaint revealed that the young boy now attends a school for children with emotional disturbances and said the traumatic event left the boy psychologically disturbed and terrified of law enforcement.

'(His) psychological injuries from the assault, at this time, appear to be permanent,' the document stated.

The lawsuit alleged that Jacquot was not re-trained after the violent incident and stated that the boy's rights were violated.

The Fourth Amendment was cited as the lawsuit alleged that excessive force and unreasonable seizure was used.

It also brought up the Americans with Disabilities Act - claiming the he faced disability-based discrimination.

The complaint seeks a jury trial and the parents are asking for compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorneys’ fees and costs.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Laramie County Sheriff's Department and the Laramie County Clerk for comment on the lawsuit.

See the original article here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12815247/Wyoming-sheriff-attack-disabled-eight-year-old-student-lawsuit.html