‘DEPRIVATION OF RIGHTS’

Three Cops Charged After ‘Unreasonable and Excessive’ Arrest of Black Teen

Body-cam footage of the 2018 incident shows the officers stepping on and kicking snow into the handcuffed teen’s face.

Federal prosecutors have charged three New Jersey police officers with a civil rights violation after the trio was captured on body-cam footage kicking snow in the face of a handcuffed Black teenager four years ago, reports PennLive. Retired Lt. Michael Delahanty and officers Matthew Przemieniecki and Justin Ubry of Ewing, New Jersey, have been charged in a two-count indictment with “deprivation of rights under color of law,” according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In the 2018 incident, which was documented by police body cams, 51-year-old Delahanty used his boot to step on the teenager’s head while 43-year-old Przemiecniecki and 33-year-old Justin Ubry kicked snow directly into his face. The teen was just 16 years old at the time. The U.S. Attorney’s Office called the arrest “unreasonable and excessive” and said it “violated the victim’s constitutional right to be free from such force.” Delahanty and Przemieniecki face a felony charge, while Ubry faces a misdemeanor count.