Posted on 07/17/2014 10:05:28 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
CLAIRTON, Pa. A 17-year-old girl says she was beaten by police in Clairton after she and her friends were stopped for a curfew violation Wednesday night.
Merceedez Wright admits she and her friends were out a few minutes after the city's 10 p.m. curfew, and that she both ran from officers and resisted them after being tackled, but she doesn't believe she deserves the injuries she suffered.
"I didn't think cops would do that to me because I'm a girl. And I didn't have anything on me. I was just trying to walk away from the situation," Wright said from her room at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. "I was terrified. I thought I was going to be getting beaten up for hours."
Wright said she and her friends were walking home from the Soft Serve and Dee-Lites ice cream shop on Miller Avenue when they were stopped by officers for being out after curfew. When they tried to go back to pick up a bag and a phone they left behind, they claim the officers tried to detain them.
Wright said she continued walking away from the officers, who then allegedly used force to stop her.
"They both just tackled me to the ground and smashed my face into the ground with their feet and their legs. Then they started pulling my hair and pushing me and stuff, and I was screaming real loud," Wright said.
Her friends said they watched as officers used force to subdue her.
"(The officer) ran full force at her and she ran from him," said Destiny Hester. "They pounced on her, then started kicking her and pulling her hair."
"I hear her screaming, I run over there and she's on the ground. They're over there beating her up, kicking her, pulling her hair," said witness Bryon Clifford.
Wright is now recovering in the hospital with injuries to her trachea, esophagus and neck, plus several cuts and bruises.
"She's a cheerleader, she's a lifeguard at the Clairton pool, she was just on prom court," said Wright's mother, Audelia Amoah. "She's a good kid."
Even so, Wright admits she ran from officers.
"I was scared because of how he got out of the car. He didn't just walk out, he jumped out of the car and started chasing me, so my first instinct was to run," she said.
Wright also said she did resist officers once she was knocked to the ground. She said she was trying to get her arms free to protect herself.
Clairton police did not respond to requests for comment.
"I didn't think cops would do that to me because I'm a girl.
She's an idiot. No need for me to read any further.
Clairton is a part of Pennsyltucky where civilization ended years ago. I used to have a couple of employees who lived there. They used to call home before leaving and tell their spouses to put out the APB if they weren’t home in 20 minutes.
Lots of youth crime and too broke to hire cops of decent quality.
LOL. My wife used to live in Fontana CA, once home of the Hells Angels, and still many cars parked on the lawns in the older parts of town.
They called it Fontucky.
Bring back Charm Schools. In my day girls could not only talk their way out of a curfew violation, but they could get a free ride home in the patrol car.
100% when it mattered, 98% othe3rwise / grin
If she told me she had done nothing to warrant a beating, then yep, I would exact retribution.
She was always pretty careful to avoid being in situations that were at all questionable. By and large, even at 16 she had better judgment that a lot of these cops now days.
Commentors seem to be missing this part of the story: “when they were stopped by officers for being out after curfew. When they tried to go back to pick up a bag and a phone they left behind, they claim the officers tried to detain them.”
IOW, the group was initially given a warning. Instead of going home, they returned to the hangout, were caught defying the warning, and at least Merceedez tried to run.
Curfews in general are inimical to a free society. But rampant crime is too. I have to wonder if this town instituted a youth curfew to protect citizens from exactly this girl’s demographic.
Would you trust today's cops around your teenage daughter? My answer would be 'No' 'Hell, no!'
Good catch. I posted this thread, and even I missed that.
IMHO, yes we live in a Police State where curfews and thug cops are common. But we also live in a society with people with misspelled names that had no respect for authority even when it was common and ordinary to show said respect.
And they sure as hell have no respect now.
Cause some people can't decide whether they hate black people or cops more.
lolol at that.
Was looking at the comments on that thread about the Crips being publically out to kill Jersey City cops.
Talk about your conflicts!
Cops think they are immune. They are not. If they had done this to my daughter it would be the second coming of Buford Pusser.
I'd be mad at her for getting into this mess.
Bingo.
“Yelling at her for being stupid and telling her shes lucky they didnt shoot her.”
Oh my! so I take it you are a JBT supporter? You and I are way far apart here!
Yelling at my kid for being stupid is being a JBT supporter?
Too late in my life I found out they paid people to find sites for movies. A job I think I would have liked.
I guess we both are, then...
JBT Ping list
She’s lucky she didnt get shot.
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