Amy Olzak’s son suffered a broken teeth after an Idaho Falls officer allegedly slammed his face into the trunk of a car.
KIDK
An Idaho mom is accusing local police of assaulting her 12-year-old son, after she called them to inform them that the child – who had been reported missing – had been found, KIDK reports.
Amy Olzak’s attorney sent a tort claim to the Idaho Falls Police Department last week, claiming that an officer used unncessary and excessive force on the child. The child reportedly suffered brooken teeth, a possible concussion and brusing and trauma to the neck and facial area, the claim says.
“He walked over to my son and then he put my son’s hand behind his back and like lifted him up in the air and slammed his face into the trunk of a car,” Olzak said, according to the news station.
The incident began on March 13, when Olzak said she reported the boy as missing. Olzak and friends spent the day looking for the child, and located him by her friend’s house, at which point she called the department to notify them.
“I just wanted them to be aware. They came over. I talked to an officer for a minute and he walked over to my son. Then he put my son’s hand behind his back and like lifted him up in the air and slammed his face into the trunk of a car,” she said
Resident Courtney Beck, the owner of the car, told the news station that there was “absolutely no reason” for the officer’s actions.
“He put his arm behind his back and his head into the back of trunk hard enough that it chipped his tooth and then placed him under arrest,” Beck said.
Another witness to the incident, Jessica Bowles, said that she couldn’t believe what happened.
I walked up closer and saw a chipped tooth, blood, and two fats lips,” she said.
Olzak called dispatch again and another officer was sent over to the scene.
“Another officer came over and they decided he needed medical attention,” Olzak said. The three women said that the officer kept the child in handcuffs and took him to the hospital. Olzak said the boy was kept in handcuffs until she was able to take him home. Olzak is not sure why her son was arrested.
“In this particular case there was a juvenile that was signed as a runaway,” IFPD Capt. Royce Clements told the news station. Clements explained that Idaho law allows officers to arrest runaways.
“In this particular case it was determined that we did send this to internal affairs and that is ongoing. When a case goes to internal affairs there is a process by which we go through that. Once that investigation is completed the full results of that come back to the chief of police and as an administrative team we discuss that and make a determination as if or what sanctions will or need to take place,” Clements added.
Olzak said she was never notified of any charges filed against her son.
