A police officer is facing assault charges after pepper-spraying teens who were spotted sitting on the porch outside a home in New Jersey.
According to the reports, 31-year-old Ryan Dubiel and his partner had been called to a Woodlynne home after a report about trespassing was made to the police.
As the officer arrived at the scene, his partner was seen talking to the youths for two minutes before Dubiel pulled out his pepper spray and started spraying into the teens’ faces after they had refused to tell him their names.
“You guys want to play games? You want to play games, huh?” the cop was heard shouting at the teens during the confrontation.
After the incident went viral, James Horn, one of the teens involved, said:
“We saw it over the internet and stuff. But we never thought it would happen to us.”
As Horn insisted, he was talking with his friends when the police showed up and confronted them about loitering and the allegations of smoking marijuana. The officers, however, reportedly didn’t find any marijuana on the teens.
Following the escalation, two minors were cited for tobacco violations whereas Dubiel has been charged with two counts of simple assault.
“After careful review, it was clear Dubiel’s actions are not consistent with the State of New Jersey use-of-force policy,” acting prosecutor Jill Mayer said.
According to the reports, the cop in question had previously worked for nine different police departments.
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Replaced!