Report: Chauvin held teen down for 17 minutes

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (KARE/CNN) – Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of killing George Floyd but the investigation into Chavin’s past conduct is not over yet.

Now, as KARE 11’s as A.J. Lagoe reports, the federal government is reviewing a use of force case involving Chauvin that the jury never heard about.

Long before Derek Chauvin held George Floyd down for more than 9 minutes, records show he held someone else down for nearly twice that long.

The court records say it happened in September 2017. The person held face-down with Chauvin’s knee on his back? A 14-year-old boy.

The prosecution wanted to use the incident, including bodycam footage, as evidence in Chauvin’s murder trial. But the judge ruled against it. The jury never heard about it and the video hasn’t been released. But the details about what happened are public.

Because it involved a child, the names and even the address have been blacked out in the Minneapolis police report. But it says Derek

Chauvin and another officer were responding to a domestic assault report; a mother claiming she’d been assaulted by her two teenage children.

In his report, Chauvin says the 14-year-old boy, said to be “6-foot-2 and at least 240 pounds” was “not complying with directions” and “displayed active resistance” when placed under arrest.

So, Chauvin says he “applied a neck restraint” and then “used body weight to pin him to the floor.” He says an ambulance was called because of blood coming from the boy’s “left ear.” But when prosecutors investigated and got a look at bodycam they said that’s not half the story.”

In the official filing with the court, prosecutors say “33 seconds after telling him to come out of the room” officers “grabbed” the boy. “Just eight seconds” after first grabbing the child, Chauvin hit him with “his flashlight.”

“Two seconds later” Chauvin “grabbed the child’s throat,” “hit him again in the head with his flashlight.”

And that’s not all. It says Chauvin applied a neck restraint “causing the child to lose consciousness” and “go to the ground.”

That’s when officers handcuffed him in “the prone position,” Chauvin’s knee on his back.

Before long the boy regained consciousness, complaining “he couldn’t breathe” while his mother begged Chauvin to get off of him. He didn’t. Even as the boy was handcuffed, bleeding on the floor.

Not for almost 17 minutes, prosecutors say, until, just like in the case of George Floyd paramedics arrived.

Fortunately, in this case, the boy survived.

Last week, the Department of Justice announced it would launch a federal investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department.

The Justice Department also has an active investigation, to look into additional civil rights violation charges against Chauvin.

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