‘LET HER GO!’

Disturbing Video Shows NYC Parks Officer Trying to Handcuff 14-Year-Old Fruit Seller

The officer apparently tried to arrest the teen girl because she was selling from an unlicensed fruit cart, a witness said.

A distressing video appeared to show a New York City parks officer manhandling a crying 14-year-old girl as he attempted to wrangle her into handcuffs for selling fruit from an unlicensed cart. The video, which circulated on X Sunday afternoon, shows a man in a parks uniform wrestling the visibly frightened girl, who has one wrist handcuffed. Bystanders attempt to pull her away from the officer in protest, yelling, “Let her go!” as the officer grabs at her. The ensuing scuffle resulted in the officer and the poor girl both tumbling to the ground, which allowed her to break free and escape, according to the video and the witness who took it, Marc Rebillet. “They cuffed the mother and put her in a police car,” Rebillet told Storyful. He added in a follow-up post on X that other park officers tried to put the confiscated fruit cart in the dumpster after the ordeal. “[O]kay fine, talk to the parents. DONT CUFF THE KID,” Rebillet wrote. In response, NYC Parks said in a statement that there are “instances when it is necessary to place violators” under arrest.