Sandy MaloneOrlando, FL – Bodycam video has been released of the arrest of a six-year-old girl at an Orlando charter school that resulted in the termination of the arresting school resource officer (video below).
The incident occurred at about 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 19, 2019 after six-year-old Kaia Rolle had a temper tantrum in class at Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy, WKMG reported.
The police report said Kaia was sent to the office for acting out and while she was there, she kicked the assistant principal on the legs and punched her arms multiple times.
Orlando Police Officer Dennis Turner, the school resource officer on the scene, wrote in the report that Assistant Principal Beverly Stout said she wanted to press charges against the six year old, WKMG reported.
Bodycam video of Kaia’s arrest showed that Kaia was in a room with a teacher reading to her when officers arrived.
Officer Turner told the little girl to stand up so he could put zip ties on her hands.
She complied but began crying, the video showed.
“No, I don’t want handcuffs on,” the little girl cried in the video. “No, don’t put handcuffs on.”
Then she appealed to the teacher in the room for assistance.
“Help me. Help me,” Kaia sobbed in the video.
“I want to stay in school. I just got here,” she cried.
“You can tell me what happened in the car, okay?” the officer wearing the bodycam told her.
Bodycam video showed that Officer Turner was gentle and kind with the little girl as he walked her out of the school and out to a waiting police SUV.
“I don’t want to go in the police car,” she sobbed.
“You don’t want to?” the officer asked. “You have to.”
“No, please give me a second chance,” she cried in the video.
“Please, please, please,” she begged as Officer Turner gently lifted her up and put her in the back seat of the police SUV. “Please just let me go.”
After the transport officer departed with Kaia, Officer Turner returned to the school office to complete his paperwork, WKMG reported.
While he was there, he assured a worried staff member that the little girl would be “picked up and home in a couple of hours.”
“The restraints, are they necessary?” an employee asked.
“If she were bigger she’d be wearing regular handcuffs,” Officer Turner replied, according to WKMG.
He told the school employees that Kaia was the youngest person he had ever arrested.
Police took Kaia’s fingerprints and mugshot, but no charges were ever filed against her, WKMG reported.
School employees later denied that they had asked Officer Turner to press charges.
Officer Turner was fired days after the incident for breaking Orlando Police Department policy that requires officers to check with a supervisor prior to arresting a juvenile under the age of 12.
WKMG reported that Kaia was only one of two six year olds whom Officer Turner arrested the same day.
An investigation later cleared the officer who was assisting Officer Turner at the school, according to WKMG.
“Internal Affairs investigated [the officer’s] role in the incident and he was exonerated after that investigation,” OPD Sergeant David Baker said. “The investigation revealed that he notified his supervisor multiple times about concerns with the arrest but was never given instruction not to proceed with the prisoner transportation.”
The police chief was quick to apologize to the community, WKMG reported.
“On behalf of myself and the entire Orlando Police Department, I apologize to the children involved and their families,” Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolon said. “As a grandfather of three children less than 11 years old, I can only imagine how traumatic this was for everyone involved.”
Orlando Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) President Adam Krudo called the incident a “lapse of judgment on the part of Dennis Turner,” WKMG reported.
Krudo said the Orlando PD has changed its policy since Kaia was arrested and now officers must have approval from a deputy chief to arrest anyone under the age of 12.
Former Officer Turner defended himself after the bodycam video was released, WKMG reported.
“I was a police officer for 23 years, and I was in the military before that. All I’ve ever done is to serve my country and my community. That’s all I have to say about this,” he said.
Watch the incident unfold in the video below: