(CNN)A police officer in the Dallas suburb of McKinney is on administrative leave after a YouTube video showed a chaotic confrontation Friday between teenagers and law enforcement at a community pool in an upper-middle-class neighborhood.
The approximately seven-minute video opens as officers try to gain control of a group of teenagers at the pool. Several minutes into the video, an officer throws a teenage girl wearing a bikini to the ground and shoves her head down. Two teenage boys approach and the officer takes out his firearm and chases them away, then turns his attention to the girl again. He grabs her arm and simultaneously re-holsters his gun.
“Call my mama, oh God!” she shouts.
He forcefully swings her by her arm to the ground.
“On your face!” he orders and presses his open hand to the back of her head and slams her face-first into the grass.
While other teens watch, the officer places both of his knees on her back.
Her crying is audible.
In a statement posted to Facebook, the McKinney Police Department said that the video “raised concerns” and it is investigating the incident. Some on social media, including comments on the YouTube post, are reacting to the video by saying that race was a factor.
The officers appear to be white and many, though not all, of the teenagers are black.
The department has not released the name of the officer placed on leave but Chief Greg Conley told reporters Sunday that the girl, who is 14, was detained and released to her parents. An adult male was arrested, Conley said, and charged with evading arrest and interference with the duties of a peace officer.
Conley said that two officers with the McKinney Police Department are conducting an investigation.
‘No justification’
CNN law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director Tom Fuentes watched the YouTube video and harshly criticized the officer who wrestled the girl.
The officer appeared to be “running around escalating” a situation that should have quickly calmed, he said.
Fuentes said there appeared to be “no justification” for the way the juveniles, particularly the girl, were treated.
The fact that she was wearing a bikini indicated that she was “clearly not armed,” he said.
The officer appeared to be “running around almost like a one-man band,” he said, and other officers appeared to distance themselves from him. “The other officers that are there don’t really come right to him to give him a hand. I’m wondering what’s going through their minds, ‘Get me away from this guy. He’s out of control.’
“He’s out of control. He clearly has no self-discipline. He lost control of his temper. Nothing good can happen at that point. Thankfully he didn’t shoot somebody.”
There were 12 officers who responded but he didn’t know how many were on scene at the time the video was shot, Conley said Sunday. The chief could also not answer how long the officer had been employed by the department.
A reporter asked if the officer has any prior complaints against him, the chief answered that he did not “have any data” on the officer.
Another reporter asked whether the actions of the officer on leave were consistent with training on how to disperse a crowd.
“It’s something we’re going to have to look into,” he answered.
