Deputy on leave after viral video showed him wrestling quadruple amputee teen to ground

A sheriff’s deputy in Tucson, Ariz., has been placed on administrative leave and is under criminal investigation after a viral video showed him wrestling a 15-year-old quadruple amputee to the ground.

Pima County Sherif Mark D. Napier announced Monday that he has authorized a criminal investigation into the conduct of Deputy Manuel Van Santen and put the officer on administrative leave after the department was notified about the video by local media outlet KOLD News 13.

“The conduct we observed on the video at face value is shocking, disturbing and personally saddening to watch,” Napier wrote in a statement. “However, we understand that a short video segment may not represent the complete picture of any incident. This conduct does appear to be completely incongruent with that which we expect of our personnel.”

Napier added that the agency would not provide further comment until the criminal investigation was complete.

The eight-minute video was shot by an onlooker at a group home in an incident that took place in September, according to KOLD. It shows the deputy wrestling with the teenager, who does not have harms or legs, for approximately 1 minute and 30 seconds.

The 15-year-old is heard saying “get the f— off me, bro” while on the floor, pinned next to a refrigerator.

Van Santen eventually stands and turns to confront another 16-year-old who was filming the altercation.

“Shut the hell up. Are you involved in this? Then go to your room,” the deputy is heard telling the teen.

When another deputy arrived at the group home, the onlooker was handcuffed and removed from the building.

It is unclear what events transpired before the video began. KOLD reported that the 15-year-old amputee was in the group home because he was abandoned by his family.

Van Santen wrote in the incident report obtained by the outlet that he was dispatched to the group home over a report that a teenager had knocked over a trash can and verbally abused a staff member. 

“At some point he tried to push his way past me at which time I put on my gloves and pushed him back,” the deputy wrote. “He started screaming and yelling at and telling me to ‘get the f— off me n—–.’ He became so uncooperative that I grabbed hold of the back of his upper torso and pushed him down to the ground. (Redacted) squirmed and wiggled around in a violent fashion and he was difficult to control, also in part because he did not have any arms or legs I could grab onto.”

KOLD reported that both teenagers were arrested for disorderly conduct, but the Pima County Attorney’s Office has since dropped the charges.

Joel Feinman with the Pima County Public Defenders Office said Van Santen’s written statement does not match the force seen in the video.

“I don’t know how a 15-year-old with no limbs squirms and wriggles in a violent fashion,” Feinman told KOLD. “Much less a fashion that justifies being assaulted by an armed police officer.”