Larry Miller
Democratic State Rep. W. Curtis
Thomas said he is calling for the immediate suspension of the Philadelphia
police officer who allegedly injured local high school student Darrin Manning
during a pedestrian stop in January.
On Jan. 7, Manning, 16, a
student at the Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School, got into a
confrontation with a Philadelphia police officer in the 1400 block of West
Girard Avenue. Allegations were raised that Manning was injured when a
still-unidentified female officer pulled his testicles while he was being
searched. According to Officer Thomas Purcell who arrested him, Manning
allegedly punched him three times and ripped the radio off of the officer’s
uniform. He has been charged with simple assault, resisting arrest and
recklessly endangering another person. He has a hearing in Family Court set for
March 4.
“This officer should be
suspended immediately,” said Thomas, who represents the 181st District, where
the incident happened. “If the facts we hear are true, desk duty is a slap in
the face of the family. She should not be working at all. There was no reason
for her to put her hands on him when he was already under control. Further, a
female officer is not supposed to pat down a male, especially when there were
male officers present.”
Thomas said that Manning was
racially profiled and arbitrarily stopped.
“This was an unprovoked assault
and battery on that young man,” Thomas said. “The Philadelphia Police
Department and the community need to be clear on what she did to cause the
extent of his injury. It is my understanding that Darrin’s attorney has called
for a federal investigation into the matter. Due to the extent of his injury I
think that city, state and federal agencies need to investigate this incident.
I don’t understand why the District Attorney has charged Darrin with assault
when he’s the one who’s been brutalized.”
The investigation into
allegations that Philadelphia Police officers roughed up Manning remains open.
There are many unanswered
questions abound in the case. Manning was allegedly headed to a basketball game
scheduled to be played at Berean Institute. Exactly what precipitated the
confrontation between him and police remains unanswered. The police claim they
had probable cause to stop him. Exactly which female police officer caused the
injury that ruptured one of Manning’s testicles also remains open, although a
female office was placed on desk-duty.
No complaints have been filed
with either the Philadelphia Police Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau or the
civilian oversight agency, the Police Advisory Commissions. As for official
complaints with federal agencies, Carrie Adamowski, spokesperson for the
Philadelphia office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said the agency is
aware of the matter. She offered no further details regarding the filings of
any official complaints.
“Obviously this is a serious
issue and we are watching how this unfolds, but they have not filed a complaint
with the Commission and I’ve not heard from the parents or the boy’s attorney
asking for our involvement,” said Kelvyn Anderson, Executive Director of the
Police Advisory Commission. The Commission is the official civilian oversight
agency of the Philadelphia Police Department. It conducts investigations of
complaints of police misconduct.
Philadelphia Police
Commissioner Charles Ramsey also reiterated that no complaints against any of
the officers involved in the reported incident have been filed.
“No, no complaints have been
filed,” Ramsey said. “We’ve reached out to them but they refuse to allow us to
speak with the young man.”
