A Texas teenager is suing the police officer who slammed her to the ground during a disturbance call to a pool party in Craig Ranch, an upscale master-planned community in the city of McKinney.
Dajerria Becton, 15, is seeking $15 million in damages from that June 2015 altercation. Cell phone video footage of the altercation shows former Cpl. Eric Casebolt — upset that the scattering teens "keep running [their] mouth[s]" — wrestling Becton to the ground, pushing her face into the grass, and kneeling on her back while he handcuffs her. Becton, crying, says Casebolt "hit me in the face." When others rush to her defense, Casebolt aims his stun gun at them.
According to The Dallas Morning News, Dajerria and her legal guardian, Shashona Becton, filed a complaint last month claiming Casebolt "violated the girl's constitutional rights by using excessive force and holding her without probable cause. The family also claims that the city and the police department are to blame for her injuries for not training officers adequately."
The city of McKinney issued the following statement in response to the incident:
The City of McKinney denies the claims alleged against it and the McKinney Police Department, and as such, will vigorously defend the recently filed lawsuit," the statement reads. "McKinney prides itself in cultivating the highest standards of training and professionalism for our officers, and it strongly believes that its standards and training will withstand legal challenge.
Casebolt resigned from the McKinney Police Department in June 2015, four days after the incident.
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