#Louisiana cop on administrative leave after violent arrest of teen at bowling alley

A Louisiana cop was placed on administrative leave while two others have been pulled from patrols after their involvement in a violent arrest of an unarmed black teenager at a bowling alley.

Video of the arrest, filmed by multiple bystanders, shows three officers wrestling themselves on top of the boy as one cop repeatedly punches him in the parking lot of the Acadian Lanes Bowling Alley last weekend.

The officers initially responded to the scene around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday in response to a report of a person with a gun, The Advocate reported.

The cops left when they didn’t initially find a person who fit the description in the report — but were back in the area about a half-hour later making a traffic stop. That’s when they spotted another teen who they thought matched the description, according to the paper.

The cops searched the boy, who was cooperative, and didn’t find a weapon.

But one of the teen’s relatives, who activists describe as a 16-year-old boy, then approached the officers, leading to the physical altercation and then the aggressive arrest, Lafayette police spokesperson Sgt. Wayne Griffin told The Advocate.

It’s not immediately clear what happened during the incident that led the officers to arrest the teen. Videos circulating on social media don’t show what occurred.

“I believe it turned physical because he may have approached the officers and got into their personal space,” Griffin said. “Then it turned physical. I’m not going to go into details of who swung first or anything like that. I just know that it turned physical.”

The Lafeyette Police Department is conducting an investigation while the officers are sidelined, KATC3 reported.

“Based on preliminary findings from the video, Interim Chief Scott Morgan has ordered an immediate investigation into the matter,” the department said in a statement issued to the statement. “One officer will be placed on administrative leave pending the investigation in accordance with LPD policy.

“The two other officers involved will be temporarily pulled from regular duty pending additional investigative information.”

Lafayette Parish NAACP President Broussard said in a statement to the local NBC affiliate that the police department needs to deliver reforms that teach cop how to deescalate confrontations.

“Once again, we find ourselves disturbed, witnessing excessive use of force against citizens, lack of deescalation tactics, and poor training; proving the sense of urgency for major police reform,” Broussard said.

“We look forward to working with the Mayor-President’s administration, community leaders, law enforcement agencies, and other stakeholders to insure these things do not happen again. This must stop.”