A Boise officer threw a handcuffed Black teen to the ground. Chief calls it unacceptable
On a late November night, Boise Police Officer Tyson Cooper approached a 17-year-old Black youth. Cooper antagonized him, handcuffed him and threw him onto the sidewalk, causing him to hit a street sign.
The incident was depicted in a nearly 50-minute body camera video that showed the 17-year-old, along with another Black minor, stopped by police. They were detained for being out past the city’s midnight curfew, according to a police report. Police also said the teenagers “matched the description” of suspects in several vehicle burglaries, yet no stolen items were ever found on them.
Body camera footage, newly obtained by the Idaho Statesman after a public records request, revealed details of the incident in November 2019 that prompted an internal affairs complaint against Cooper, which was closed in 2020.
The public airing of the incident comes at a time when the Boise Police Department and mayor’s office have come under scrutiny after the resignation of former Boise Police Chief Ryan Lee and the termination of police oversight director Jesus Jara. The video footage was a cause for concern from city officials, who scrambled to respond as they anticipated its public release.
Boise Interim Police Chief Ron Winegar called the video “troubling” in an internal email.
“The incident occurred in 2019 and the video footage is troubling,” Winegar told the police department’s staff in a Feb. 22 email the Statesman obtained through a records request. “It was investigated by (the Office of Internal Affairs) at the time and the case was closed. The involved officers are aware of the video being released, and I wanted to make sure you were aware as well, since you may be encountering the ramifications of it later this week.”
Winegar told the Statesman in an interview Tuesday that the police department’s internal affairs office reviewed and investigated the incident, after being notified by a supervisor and watch commander. The investigation found that “the sum of the conduct depicted in the video was clearly unacceptable,” Winegar said.
Winegar added that corrective action — which could be anything from counseling to termination — was taken. He declined to specify what kind. The investigation was closed in April 2020, mayoral spokesperson Maria Weeg told the Statesman in an email.
Cooper, a nearly seven-year veteran of the police department, is still employed as a senior patrol officer, and he previously taught use-of-force classes.
“We believe that the investigation was thorough and adequate and appropriate at the time,” Winegar told the Statesman on Tuesday, when asked whether the investigation would be reopened. “We do not have plans to reopen it based on it becoming a news story.”
No racial profiling involved, interim chief says
Around 3:40 a.m. on Nov. 26, 2019, Cooper and Boise Police Cpl. Robert Gibson detained the two teens, who come from refugee families, after Gibson said he saw them walking down North Goldie Place, which is in North Boise near Hill Road, according to a 14-page police report.
Gibson in the police report, which was obtained by the Statesman through the public records process, said that from his vehicle he thought the teens looked like minors, which would mean they were out past the city’s curfew. Once he approached them, he said, the two Black teens “matched the description” of suspects in several vehicle burglaries.
Boise Police Union President Guy Bourgeau, who has been with the department since 2000, told the Statesman that during that time the department had intensified patrols in the area because of increased reports of burglaries, gang activity and guns. Winegar added that police at the time were looking for Black males.
“We did not find anything that would indicate there was any kind of racial profiling,” Winegar said about the internal affairs investigation into the incident. “The officer that made the initial contact with the subjects was doing a legitimate patrol, based on legitimate problems in the area, and race did not factor into anything.”
Cooper arrested the 17-year-old on suspicion of three misdemeanors: malicious injury, resisting or obstructing officers and providing false information to an officer, according to the police report. He also cited him with an infraction for violating curfew for minors and underage possession of cigarettes.
The Ada County Prosecutor’s Office charged the juvenile with the infractions, and he was given a $614 fine, according to court records. It’s unclear whether he was ever charged with the three misdemeanors since juvenile records are often sealed.
The Statesman was able to identify the youths based on the police reports, which included citation numbers, and court records.
Police report says minor ‘intentionally head-butted’ patrol car
“Why your partner acting aggressive?” one of the minors asked Gibson in the footage, as Cooper handcuffed the younger of the two.
In the 14-page police report, Cooper alleged that when he showed up at the scene after Gibson called for assistance, the youths were “verbally confrontational” and “used foul language.” In the video, the minors can be heard swearing during the arrest.
The footage shows Cooper arriving at the scene and immediately walking behind the two youths seated on the sidewalk. Gibson was already on the scene and standing in front of them.
One of the teens asked Cooper why he was standing behind them. Cooper responded “that he can stay wherever he choose(s) to.”
In the police report, Cooper said the teens were “feeding off each other and creating an officer safety issue,” so he had them put their legs out and cross their ankles. The footage showed he had been on the scene for less than a minute before he asked them to cross their ankles. Gibson then left to go to his vehicle, leaving Cooper alone with them.
Cooper asked whether they live in the neighborhood, and one teen told him they were just out walking.
“You up here breaking into cars, peeping into windows?” Cooper asked.
The younger juvenile told Cooper to “shut up,” and Cooper then placed a hand on the back of the teen’s neck and said, “You don’t tell me to shut up, you’re not big enough.”
Cooper placed both teens into handcuffs and told the 17-year-old he was going to “drag” him to his police car.
Winegar told the Statesman that Cooper’s words were “not acceptable.”
“The verbal exchange that was had certainly does not meet our expectation or the expectations of our community,” Winegar said. “Our officers are expected to have professional conversations with people and treat people with respect.”
Cooper alleged in the police report that as he attempted to arrest the 17-year-old, the minor “intentionally head-butted” Cooper’s car and was “out of control,” which caused Cooper to put him on the ground. Winegar told the Statesman that the internal affairs investigation agreed with Cooper, concluding that the 17-year-old “struck his own head against the police car.”
Cooper in the video can be heard saying, “Do not hit your head on my car.” It’s unclear in the video what caused the teen’s head to slam into the vehicle.
Winegar also took issue with the way the 17-year-old was thrown onto the ground after hitting his head. He said that once someone is placed into handcuffs, the officer has an “obligation to protect them.”
“If they’re doing something, as is apparent in this instance, that may cause injury — like hitting your head against the police car — we are obligated to stop that kind of conduct,” Winegar said. “We would hope that and expect that an officer will be able to take physical control and place that person on the ground, even if it’s done forcefully.”
Winegar added that it does not appear from the video that Cooper placed the teen on the ground “in a controlled manner.”
Cooper in the video acknowledged throwing the 17-year-old to the ground, which caused the teen’s leg to hit a street sign. The youth screamed out in pain for roughly 3 minutes while Cooper searched his pockets and placed him into the patrol car. About 3 minutes after Cooper got into the car, the juvenile was still crying.
“Hey, why are you making that noise?” Cooper asked the teen, who didn’t respond. “What’s wrong with you?”
‘This is a show’: Cooper told to take teen to hospital
The 17-year-old was taken to the Ada County Jail’s Juvenile Detention Center, but an unidentified staff member turned them away and told Cooper that he’d have to get the teenager checked out at the hospital because the youth was walking with a limp. In the body camera footage, the teen can be seen limping as Cooper escorted him into the detention center.
“You might have to take him to the hospital and get him cleared,” the Ada County staff member told Cooper. “We won’t be able to accept him.”
Cooper in the video sounded agitated and interrupted the staff member several times to say that the teen is fine, and that he’s not injured.
“This is a show,” Cooper said.
The teen was then taken to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, where medical personnel evaluated and cleared him, according to the police report. Two additional body camera videos, provided to the Statesman through a public records request, showed the teen being driven to and from the hospital and then booked into the detention center.
During the car ride to Saint Al’s, the teen told Cooper that he “f----d up” his back by stepping on it. Cooper disagreed and told the youth that they were “not having this debate.”
Cooper could be heard telling the youth that he should go find ibuprofen for pain.
On the ride back to the detention center, the teen questioned Cooper’s behavior. Cooper told him that if he had acted as calmly as he was in the car, things might have worked out better.
“You guys made it seem like we was doing something and we didn’t even do nothing,” the teen told Cooper during the car ride. “You searched me and didn’t find nothing apart from a cigarette and a lighter.”
“You can’t have those,” Cooper interjected.
“Now I got all these charges from what, a cigarette and a lighter,” the teen said.
This story was originally published March 2, 2023 at 10:58 AM.
