On Tuesday in the snowy suburban neighbourhood of Onondaga County, New York, an embarrassing case of mistaken identity occurred leaving residents and the broader community grappling with questions of justice, equality, and the treatment of young children by law enforcement. Specifically, an 11-year-old girl was wrongfully accused of car theft, handcuffed, and then subjected to an ordeal that no young child should ever have to deal with. One of the friends of the young girl managed to capture the incident on their phone and has since shared it to TikTok where it’s gone on to become viral.
The shocking footage opens on a snowy sidewalk in Syracuse, Onondaga County and sees a young girl in a pink hoodie with her hands behind her back due to them having been handcuffed. A police officer stands behind her. The opening description for the video states: “Deputies looking for a car thief handcuffed an 11-year-old. They had the wrong person.”
“Wait, I’m actually so confused.” expresses her friend who is stood nearby recording the footage. “I’m scared.” says another friend. Describing the increasing police presence arriving to the scene, the friend of the victim describes what’s going on: “There’s another one right there. I’m staying with her. I don’t care about what your dad says.”
The clip then fades and cuts to a few moments later where a female police officer is speaking to the 11-year-old victim, saying: “Someone wearing the exact same thing you’re wearing.” The next part is inaudible, though the friend chimes in with, “They stole a what?” To this, the officer responds with, “Car.”
“She can’t drive.” fires back the victim’s friend. In response, the officer replies, “What do you mean? Most kids can’t drive and they’re out here stealing cars.” The victims companions declare, “That’s a sixth-grader.”
After some back and forth, the police read out the description of the perpetrator that they’re looking for, which does sound similar to the attire that the 11-year-old is wearing. “Pink jacket. Camo pants. Exact same description.” explains the police officer. As the incident continues to escalate the 11-year-old breaks down into tears.
“You’re gonna lie and tell me that’s not you?” another police officer asks. “I’m not lying. That’s not me.” says the 11-year-old victim. “Look at her shoes are white. Her shoes do not have pink around it.” explains the victim’s friend, attempting to reason with the law enforcement officials. “Listen, it is what it is. If you’re honest, it’ll make it easy.” states an officer.
Next, the footage cuts to a few moments later, where another officer arrives on the scene. “It’s not her?” he asks. “No, she’s good.” responds the other official. “I’m going to undo your handcuffs now, okay? Do you want to grab her backpack for her?“
Finally, as the clip comes to an end, the police officers offer the girls some final words, with one expressing: “If it is you? You played it well today.” Meanwhile, a female officer shockingly declares: “You gotta see. This girl’s got hair down to her a**. I just watched the video. You guys are all like identical. It sucks.”
With the clip continuing to gain momentum online, many netizens were upset with the treatment that the young girls had to endure. One TikTok comment read:
“you guys are all like identical” I beg your finest f***ing pardon!? I hope the car gets a puncture. that she drops every hot dog ever. just tacky af tf
toast
Another commenter added, “Lawsuit about to be crazy!!!!“
Lastly, a third netizen added, “she’s visibly a CHILD why are they trying to intimidate this poor little girl without her parents present“
While the perpetrator’s description did fit the young girl in question, it still must’ve been a massive shock and stressful ordeal for the innocent victim at the heart of the incident. Hopefully, this will go on to be a timely case study for the wrongful treatment of minors in situations that are beyond their control.
