Video shows Chicago officers punching, dragging a 16-year-old girl down the stairs
CHICAGO (Fox 32 News) - New surveillance video appears to contradict what Chicago police say happened during an altercation with a Marshall High School student.
The video appears to show officers push and drag the student down a set of stairs.
After the fight happened in late January, the two officers involved said the 16-year-old provoked it, forcing them to tackle her and eventually use a Taser to bring her under control.
The student, Dnigma Howard, appears in the video to be walking away when the officer appears to grab her in a bear hug and force her down the stairs. Then, another camera located on the floor below shows Howard being dragged down the stairs, beaten and eventually stunned by the Taser. Initially, Howard was charged with assault. But those charges were later dropped by the state's attorney's office.
Howard's family is now suing the city.
"Don't judge nobody before you know the whole story. Now you see the other part of the video, now the whole world knows what really happened and how the police officers' statement contradicts the video and that me and my daughter were telling the truth the whole time," said father Laurentio Howard.
He says he's relieved because this cell phone video that initially went public didn't capture how the altercation began.
The Howard family has filed a lawsuit against the city, both officers involved in the fight, and the Chicago Board of Education.