Hinesville Police responded to concerns surrounding officers placing juveniles in handcuffs
By: -----
Hinesville, GA - Hinesville Police Department (HPD) officials responded to concerns surrounding a video circulating online of officers placing two juveniles in handcuffs Thursday.
According to the body-worn camera footage and the incident report, an officer was asked by staff to remove four juveniles from a theater at Liberty Cinemas on April 11 around 10:55 p.m.
HDP Assistant Chief Terry Smith said the department decided to release the footage to let the public see for themselves what led up to the arrests.
“As a general practice, the department does not release footage while a case is pending prosecution,” a post said on the department’s Facebook page. “However, due to the significant public attention surrounding this incident, along with the spread of inaccurate information and misrepresented facts, we felt it was important to provide transparency.”
Hinesville Police Department release body cam of teens’ arrest
“There’s been some inaccuracies as far as we’re concerned,” Smith said. “What we want to do is put out the body cams, so we can show the public exactly what happened that day.”
The footage shows the teens being escorted out of the theater. Once they reach the parking lot, the officer tells them they cannot return to the movie theater property and suggested they wait for their ride home in the Kroger parking lot.
“If you come back, you’re getting arrested,” the officer warned the teens.
The young men were recorded on surveillance camera riding a shopping cart from the Kroger parking lot to the Liberty Cinemas parking lot several times.
“The juveniles were asked to leave the movie theater and its property, and they just did not comply,” Smith said. “We’re going to let the video do the talking.”
The officer watched the teens walk toward W. Oglethorpe Highway and requested additional units.
The juveniles were located in front of Huey Magoo’s. The mother of one of the young women also arrived to pick up the teens.
One of the male juveniles ran from police after an officer announced they were being detained. Officers pursued him on foot into the Link Terrace Apartments, where the teen hid in a bush. The teen was located and fled again before being tackled and detained.
According to the police department, the officer brought the teen to the ground, placed a knee to his shoulder and stood him up within about five seconds.
A second teen was also detained for obstruction, according to the report.
One of the young men appeared to be under the influence of a controlled substance and had two vape devices on him. The officer said they smelled alcohol on the juvenile.
According to the officer in the body-worn footage, the department has received several calls for issues with juveniles at the movie theater.