Pa. Cops Beat Up 17-Year-Old Girl Caught Out After Curfew

A 17-year-old girl in Clairton, Pennsylvania says
she was brutally beaten by cops after getting caught outside after
curfew. Merceedez Wright says she and her friends were walking home
from an ice cream parlor just a few minutes after the 10p.m. curfew
when they were approached by police. Wright admits to running away
from cops when they exited the car. “I was scared because of how he
got out of the car. He didn’t just walk out, he jumped out of the
car and started chasing me, so my first instinct was to run,”
 she told
local news station WTAE.

WTAE describes the attack based on Wright’s friends who
witnessed it as well as a portion caught on surveillance video:

“(The officer) ran full force at her and she ran from him,” said
Destiny Hester. “They pounced on her, then started kicking her and
pulling her hair.”

“I hear her screaming, I run over there and she’s on the ground.
They’re over there beating her up, kicking her, pulling her hair,”
said witness Bryon Clifford.

Surveillance cameras across the street from the scuffle show
Wright and an officer run into view, before the officer grabs her,
spins her around, and throws her to the ground.

What happened next is not clear because the officers and Wright
are behind a car, but two minutes later police appear to stand the
teenager up before a new struggle begins.

The video shows one of her arms had come free, not in handcuffs,
and she seems to pull away from the officers before they take her
to the ground again.

One minute later, they again try to walk her to their car, but
she appears to resist and pull in the opposite direction. One
officer then uses a forceful move to push her down. She then is
moved out of the view of the surveillance camera.

Wright is now recovering in the hospital with injuries to her
trachea, esophagus and neck, plus several cuts and bruises.

Wright admits to resisting the police too, saying she tried to
free her arms to protect herself after cops knocked her to the
ground.

You can watch the surveillance footage included in the WTAE
segment here.