Worcester Officers Kneeled On Autistic Boy's Neck, Lawsuit Claims

WORCESTER, MA — A mother is suing Worcester police over a 2017 incident where two officers restrained her 10-year-old autistic son by kneeling on his neck and twisting his arm, according to court records.

The suit, filed Tuesday in federal court, is at least the third against the department in 2020 alleging misconduct or abuse. The new lawsuit, in part, seeks to correct department policies that create "a climate of impunity allowing officers to violate the rights of citizens without fear of repercussions," the suit says.

According to the lawsuit, the boy's mother, Lindsey Beshai Torres, called Worcester police on Sept. 25, 2017, after her son threw a Gatorade bottle at her. Torres and her son were in a car outside Gates Lane Elementary School.

"Concerned over her son’s medication issues and behavior, Mrs. Beshai Torres did something she never done before with [her son], she called 911 to ask for medical assistance," the lawsuit says.

Worcester officers John Alers and Paul McCarthy, who is no longer with the department, responded. Torres' son was calm when the officers arrived, the suit says, but at one point threw a bag of potato chips out a window. That's when Alers began pulling the boy out of the car, the suit says.

"[The boy] screamed hysterically as he was taken from the car to the pavement and Officer McCarthy placed his knee on [the boy's] neck while Officer Alers put a knee on the boy’s legs as they forced his arms behind his back," according to the lawsuit, which was first reported Tuesday by MassLive. The officers also twisted the boy's arm, which caused a fracture, the suit says.

The officers' report of the incident differs from what Torres witnessed, the suit says. The officers said the boy threw a bag of trash out of the car, yelled profanities at the officers, and pounded on an armrest. The suit claims the officers were untruthful in their retelling of the encounter.

The suit also claims Worcester police do not receive any training around how to deal with autistic people.

"When police officers are not properly train to deal with children or adults with ASD traditional law enforcement techniques for controlling or containing a situation are ineffective and can and do lead to further escalation with the person with ASD," the suit says.

City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. said Wednesday he's aware of the lawsuit. The city does not comment on allegations made in lawsuits, however.

"The incident resulted in an outcome that no one desired, and I feel for what the boy and his family experienced, but because this is an ongoing legal matter, I am unable to comment further at this time," Augustus said.

The lawsuit follows a summer of controversy in Worcester over police funding, the department's response to a June 1 demonstration in the Main South neighborhood, and preexisting claims of misconduct by officers.

In January, Carlos Alvarez sued the department and Capt. Michael McKiernan, claiming McKiernan searched Alvarez's phone without a warrant and later lied about it during court proceedings. Alvarez spent 1,111 days in jail on a drug charge before the case was dropped.

In August, Christopher Ayala-Melendez sued over his treatment during a melee at the downtown beer garden in October. Ayala-Melendez claimed that two officers assaulted him — including with a K-9 dog — as he was passing by the scene.

Meanwhile, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette is locked in a legal battle with the city over the release of police misconduct records involving 17 officers. Worcester is fighting the release of disciplinary records because it might jeopardize the city's ability to defend officers being sued for wrongdoing.

In the Carlos Alvarez lawsuit, Worcester was granted permission to seal records related to police misconduct that an attorney for Alvarez had requested.

In July, a Worcester officer was recorded slapping a man who was lying on a stretcher. The department opened an investigation into the matter, one of 36 misconduct investigations ongoing at the time.

On June 1, Worcester riot police fought a crowd of people following a protest over the killing of George Floyd. Nineteen people were arrested, including one man who police claim was carrying Molotov cocktails. The incident has generated complaints from people who say they were treated violently by police.

Clark University published its independent investigation into the July 1 incident. It found that protesters threw objects at police, but also that the students may have been mistreated during their arrests. The report found "credible" evidence that police punched one of the students while he was lying on the ground, leaving him with scrapes across his face.

The June 1 protest stirred some residents to advocate for the police department to be defunded in whole or in part. Although that effort failed during City Council budget proceedings, Augustus told MassLive earlier this summer "something has to happen" around police reform. Worcester is also exploring whether to purchase body cameras for all officers.

Here's the lawsuit filed by Torres: