click here for WJLA story on McLean assault by police
Several days after five students were arrested in McLean in the aftermath of a high school basketball game, a student claims that he was mistreated by police who responded to the scene.
Langley student Sam Horst is still in disbelief by the way he says he was treated by a McLean police officer.
“I don't know what I did to make him do that to me,” he says. “I didn't know what was going on.”
Horst says students from both schools gathered at the McDonalds off Old Dominion Road as they normally did.
The Youtube video shows students packed inside the McDonald’ when at least three police officers stepped in to disperse the crowd.
Horst says he was about to order food when suddenly the cop grabbed him. Horst told ABC7 that he was struck three times with a baton and then pushed to the wall by his throat. He was then given a breathalyzer test and released. Horst's father says he plans on filing a complaint with police.
His father says he believes police overstepped their bounds
“They banged around a 17-year-old kid for really no good reason,” says Peter Horst. “I'm so upset this happened. I'm enraged.”
Another parent said that a police officer allegedly gave her son a bloody lip and caused him to cough up blood as a result of being struck in the throat.
Diana McColgan says her son came home with a bloody lip after an officer hit him with his baton stick.
“His lip was swollen,” she says. “He was devastated.”
Fairfax County Police won't comment on whether inappropriate action was taken pending investigation. But they say students were acting rowdy inside the McDonald’s.
“We dispersed the crowds, made one arrest,” says Lucy Caldwell, spokeswoman for the Fairfax County Police Department. “We had also made some charges. Unfortunately, underage drinking can be an issue."
Horst says all he wants is an apology.
“It seemed excessive,” he says. “It just surprises me they wouldn't just tell people what happened.”
