NC security guards, deputy assaulted son at hospital, mother says
LINCOLN, N.C. Feb16 2020— A mother is outraged after she said a hospital security officer and a deputy attacked her 16-year-old outside Atrium Health-Lincoln.
Jessica Long tried to get her son help at the hospital by taking him to the emergency room in December. She said her teen was having a mental health crisis.
“He wasn’t in his right state of mind at the time and that’s why I was at the hospital,” said Long.
He didn’t want to go in and she had her younger son in the car.
In the video, Long motions for the security guard to come over.
“Shock, anger,” said Long.
Long still can’t believe what unfolded on the security video that her lawyer was able to obtain.
“He was angry with me when he got out of the car. He pushed me. It didn’t deter me from trying to get him help. I wasn’t afraid of him. He didn’t hurt me. He was being disrespectful,” said Long.
That’s when things escalated with the security guard.
The video shows the guard push her son to the ground twice and pull out a Taser.
Her son then walked back to the car and another security guard tackled him from behind.
“He was simply standing there,” said Long.
A few minutes later, Lincoln County deputies arrive.
“I was still thinking these men will help,” said Long. Their goal will be to help me help my son, and they didn’t do that,” said Long.
Her son was Tased multiple times, and while the teen was handcuffed and blood running down his face, deputies said he spit at one deputy.
In the video, you can see Deputy Justin Polson punch the handcuffed teenager twice until another deputy stopped him.
“That was full-blown rage,” said Long.
Atrium Health released a video in response to the event claiming the 16-year-old was making threats.
“Security was trying to deescalate the situation, but the threats were escalating. And when someone makes a threat about getting a gun and shooting and killing people, the officers did what was appropriate to contain a situation,” said Maureen Swick, the administrator over the hospital’s security division.
“They are twisting things around and saying he was threatening to kill everybody,” said Long, who said that was not the case.
Atrium Health also defended the security guard who appeared to tackle the minor.
“He was afraid that the individual is going to get back into the car. They didn’t know if there was a weapon there. They did, I think, act appropriately. Unfortunately, the young man did get injured, which we never want to see in any incident or event,” said Swick.
“They obviously weren’t equipped to handle it,” said Long.
The teen is facing half-dozen charges, including a felony.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s office said in a release, “The juvenile cursed the officer and spit blood in his face, which is a felony. Deputy Polson reacted by striking the juvenile on the top of the head. The incident was investigated, and Deputy Polson was disciplined internally for his actions.”
Long said she tried to do the right thing and get her son help.
“They always say, ‘Reach out if you’re having a mental health crisis,’” she said.
Now she wishes she hadn’t taken him at all.
“When you actually go to do it, I took him to an emergency room, and he was treated like a criminal by everybody. Nobody ever treated him like a patient,” said Long.
The 16-year-old’s first court appearance on Monday.
He could potentially be charged as an adult.
Atrium Health also said it is reviewing what took place, and it will use what it learns to improve outcomes in volatile situations such as this one.
WSOCTV
