On January 10 in Virginia Beach, a 17-year-old boy, riding in a car that had been pulled over in a routine traffic stop, was tasered by police and then beaten by them, all of which was captured on a cell phone video.
The driver of the car, 18-year-old Courtney Griffith, had been pulled over because one of her tail lights was not working. The officer, whose last name was Pittman, then claimed he smelled marijuana inside the car.
Soon four policemen have congregated at the scene, at which point Griffith began filming with her cell phone. Pittman then orders the 17-year-old, named Brandon, out of the car, which the boy refuses to do without his mother present.
Soon, Brandon is hit with pepper spray as the boy yells that he’s a minor. Due to the intense pain, he remains in the car, which causes him to be tasered at least twice and beaten by Pittman.
Brandon is quickly pulled from the car. Soon, one of the policemen involved looks for Griffith’s phone and made the effort to delete the controversial video.
While being arrested, Griffith was given the phone back and immediately noticed the missing video. However, by looking in the folder for recently deleted items, she found the video and soon posted it on Facebook.
The officer was placed on administrative leave, Griffith was released, but Brandon was arrested for resisting arrest and assault and battery on an officer. He remains in a center for juvenile detention until July.