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Jilly_in_VA

(9,854 posts)
Sun Feb 6, 2022, 05:44 PM Feb 2022

'A nightmare': Vermont mom shaken by violent police response to her 14-year-old in crisis

In May, Cathy Austrian called the police after her then-14-year-old came home with dozens of vapes stolen from a convenience store in Burlington, Vermont. Austrian wanted her child, who has struggled for years with behavioral and mental health issues, to learn right from wrong. But after police came, the situation took a violent turn.

Austrian’s child was sitting on the edge of a bed and wouldn’t respond as the two officers tried for nearly 10 minutes to coax the teen into turning over the vapes, according to body camera footage Austrian provided to NBC News.

The officers remained by the doorway as Austrian searched the room and recovered all of the vapes except for the one in her child’s hand. (NBC News is not identifying the teen, who is nonbinary and uses the pronouns they/them, because they are a minor.)

Austrian spent about 15 seconds trying to get the teen to hand over the vape. Then the officers moved in, repeating that they would have to arrest and handcuff the teen if it wasn’t turned over, the body camera footage showed.

“You don’t want to do this,” one of the officers said, the footage showed.

The officers pinned Austrian’s child to the bed and pried the vape out of the teen’s hand. The teen lunged at them, hands and arms swinging, prompting the officers to force the teen to the ground and into a prone position, the body camera footage showed.

https://www.nbcnews.com/investigations/-was-just-nightmare-vermont-mother-outraged-police-response-teen-crisi-rcna14380

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BlueTsunami2018

(3,461 posts)
2. Never call the police for any reason unless there is absolutely no other choice.
Sun Feb 6, 2022, 05:51 PM
Feb 2022

And certainly never attempt to use them as a "teaching tool". It's never going to go the way you expect.

She invited the vampire into her house and then got upset when he started biting necks.

Demovictory9

(32,324 posts)
3. yep...article says she calls 911 for behavioral issues... eventually kid will get killed
Sun Feb 6, 2022, 05:55 PM
Feb 2022

"biracial" and male too.

Jilly_in_VA

(9,854 posts)
7. In a lot of places
Sun Feb 6, 2022, 06:17 PM
Feb 2022

when you call 911, you get cops whether you want them or not. Especially if it's a mental health issue. Anyway, the convenience store had already called the cops on the kid. Read the article.

WA-03 Democrat

(3,017 posts)
4. Watch the video
Sun Feb 6, 2022, 06:08 PM
Feb 2022

The cops were called to a report of stealing being reported. Does not how much the vapes cost but they can go for $100 of dollars each. The stolen goods were recovered. The kid then hit the cops and they were retrained. Ketamine was used. Yes, I agree cops are not teachers but kindly show me the wrong in this? Can the cops not stop people from stealing or is that out of bounds?

The Mother regrets calling the cops but they did nothing wrong. The issue is with the minor.

JI7

(89,182 posts)
6. If this is what happened then the parent looks to be at fault
Sun Feb 6, 2022, 06:13 PM
Feb 2022

She expected to cops to fix whatever issues her kid has.

If you know your kid stole something you can return the items to the business without reporting to cops also.

JI7

(89,182 posts)
9. And she could still have returned the item
Sun Feb 6, 2022, 06:23 PM
Feb 2022

bur either way I don't see what the cops did wrong here.

 

Klaralven

(7,510 posts)
5. Child was 5-foot-8 and weighs about 230 pounds, suspect in a robbery
Sun Feb 6, 2022, 06:12 PM
Feb 2022
Burlington police officers were already at the convenience store where the alleged theft took place — workers had called 911 after Austrian’s child left.

Cashiers told the officers the teen threatened them with a mallet and a knife (it was kitchen shears, according to Austrian). One cashier described the teen, who is 5-foot-8 and weighs about 230 pounds, as “awkward” and “scary,” according to body camera footage obtained by NBC News.

The same two officers showed up at Austrian’s house.

This wasn’t the family’s first interaction with Burlington police. Austrian had called 911 several times before, when her child was at risk of hurting themselves or others. The incidents were all resolved peacefully, she said. When the officers arrived around 7:30 p.m., Austrian told them her child had a rough week, body camera footage showed.

Response to Klaralven (Reply #5)

Deuxcents

(15,785 posts)
10. Wait...the kid is 5'8" n weighs 230# ?
Sun Feb 6, 2022, 06:43 PM
Feb 2022

I’d say with just this information..something is not right in that household. Aside from his mental issues, his physical health is in need, also. Poor kid..

Jilly_in_VA

(9,854 posts)
11. My ASD son is 5'8
Sun Feb 6, 2022, 07:09 PM
Feb 2022

and at one time weighed in that neighborhood. We did everything humanly possible to get him more active and watch his diet but it's not always possible. (He's now 48 and weighs more nearly 165) It occurred to me that this mom's child may have Prader-Willi Syndrome, which could be responsible not only for the behavioral/mental issues, but also for the weight. Look it up if you don't know anything about it. During my brief career in Peds I encountered a couple of kids with that. They could be difficult.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prader%E2%80%93Willi_syndrome

haele

(12,581 posts)
12. Lots of kids with mental problems also have weight problems.
Sun Feb 6, 2022, 07:10 PM
Feb 2022

Eating disorders often go hand in hand with other behavior issues.
It's not always going to be a parent problem.

Haele

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