On a video, a former Florida school resource deputy was caught pulling a 13-year-old girl by her hair and called onlookers “stupid little children” as shock fazed them and now has been criminally charged.
Battery charges against former Orange County Sheriff’s deputy Harry Reid, was announced by Orange-Osceola County State Attorney’s Office this week as station WESH reported.
On the time he was filmed using an excessive amount of force against a student, the then-deputy was assigned as a resource officer at Westridge Middle School. Immediately after the incident, Reid was removed from his post on November 2019 and fired by the department subsequently.
State Attorney Aramis D. Ayala said in a statement that “On January 30, 2020, our office did in fact file an Information charging Harry Reid, the former Orange County Sheriff’s deputy accused of pulling a girl by the hair, with one count of battery.” Moreover, stated that this is an open and active investigation which limits their ability to comment any further.
Reid was strong-arming the teen, Wilmica Edmond, as shown in the bodycam video of the incident released by the sheriff ‘s department at a nearby apartment complex. Police responded to reports of a fight.
Bystanders captured the incident also and posted to social media.
In the clip, the deputy pins Edmond against the back of the cop car and pulls her arms behind her back.
Reid is heard telling the teen before grabbing her scarf and pulled her backward. “You’re the one who started this s— at school,” “I’m tired of this s–-t.”
Edmond told ClickOrlando she suffered neck pain and subsequently had trouble sleeping after the incident. The student wasn’t arrested and was released into her parent’s custody after a brief detainment.
In a similar incident last year, a Broward County Sheriff’s deputy was arrested and charged with felony child abuse after choke-slamming a teenage girl.
