Nationwide — Judah Everage, a 15-year-old African American teen from Melbourne, Florida, was injured after local police tackled and restrained him while searching for a missing teenager. Body camera footage later showed officers had mistaken him for the 16-year-old runaway, who is white, that they were looking for.
Police were searching for a white teen who had left home wearing dark clothing when they encountered Everage, who was wearing lighter clothing and did not match the description. Before officers approached him, Everage had been helping the missing boy’s mother look for her son.
Body camera footage showed officers speaking with the mother while Everage stood nearby. She showed them a photo of her son, and one officer responded, “Gotcha, perfect.”
Less than 10 minutes later, that same officer and other Melbourne officers confronted Everage, forced him to the ground, and handcuffed him. Everage tried to explain that he knew the boy’s mother and had been helping with the search.
The footage showed officers ordering Everage to get on the ground and threatening to use a Taser. As officers grabbed his arm, he screamed that he was hurt. One officer warned they would break his arm if he did not stop resisting, although the video appeared to show Everage with his hands raised and not fighting back.
Everage’s family has hired an attorney and plans to sue over the encounter. Their attorney, Daniel P. Faherty, criticized the officers’ response and said police should use crisis intervention methods when handling situations involving children and possible mental health concerns.
The missing teen’s mother had contacted police because she wanted help having her son evaluated under Florida’s Baker Act, which allows someone to be taken for an involuntary mental health evaluation. She said her son became upset after she told him his girlfriend could no longer live with their family.
According to WESH, at least three Melbourne officers involved in the incident had previous disciplinary records, according to personnel files. Officer William Markle had faced complaints involving allegations of aggressive behavior and later resigned from the department.
Another officer had complaints for failing to activate a body camera during a previous call and being involved in a minor crash while driving a police vehicle. A third officer had also been involved in a separate vehicle crash.
Everage’s mother, Angela Sparks, said she was devastated that her son was hurt while trying to help. She questioned why officers targeted him when the missing teen they were searching for had a different description.