Caught on camera, a Houston father claims officers put his toddler son's life in danger
Houston - A Houston father has filed a complaint with the state of Texas saying some law enforcement officers put his and his son's lives in danger. The encounter was caught on camera.
Caught on camera: A Houston father claims officers put his toddler son's life in danger
A Houston father has filed a formal complaint against a law enforcement task force for using excessive force and endangering both him and his toddler son in a case of mistaken identity, captured on a neighbor's video with no subsequent apology or acknowledgment from the authorities.
In the video, you see the dad walking, carrying his toddler son in a Northwest Houston apartment complex, and he finds himself on the radar of officers who are looking for a wanted man. King Davis says it was a team of officers there to make the arrest, and they apparently thought the father and the fugitive were one in the same.
"This young man is only walking, having fun, enjoying the day with his son, and you see him pass by those law enforcement officers," explains Community Activist Quanell X.
"They see me. My son is waving at them. 'Hey.' I keep walking because I know it has nothing to do with me," says King Davis.
"Hey. We want to talk to you. Come here. Come here," you can hear officers say on the video.
"My son is on my neck like this. As I'm walking right here. I feel hands come behind me. One gun goes in my back. One officer tries to take my son off of me. One started yanking at his legs and pulling him right here. That's when my son starts screaming and yelling. You can hear him loud and clear screaming and crying in the video," Davis explains, and he adds, "They were telling me he was going to go to CPS."
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"Where's my son?" You can hear Davis yell on the video.
"As they put the guns in my back, my whole body shut down. My heart dropped, like a feeling of panic," Davis says.
"And they begin to physically assault him on the ground because of what?" asks Quanell.
"I didn't do nothing. I walked by." Davis says to officers while he's on the ground.
"All because they thought he fit the description of some other young black male. Well, all young black men don't look alike. We are demanding those officers be disciplined...One wrong move, what are you going to shoot him and this baby? All of that was not necessary. It was over the top. It was excessive use of force," says Quanell.
"It wasn't right. That was very unprofessional. They could have killed me and my son. They were kicking me," Davis says, and he adds, "My phone was cracked. I had to get it fixed. When they threw me on the ground, my whole screen cracked. I had some bruises and abrasions on my body."
"Thank God a neighbor had video of the entire encounter, and so he has proof of what they did to him and how they treated him and this little bitty baby, and still to this very day, not even an apology because they feel he is not even worth that," says Quanell.
Davis says he was ultimately handcuffed, fingerprinted, and released after about 30 minutes when the task force realized he wasn't the man they were looking for.
We have reached out to both the feds and the county and are waiting for a response on exactly which agency was involved and what they have to say about the father's claims.