General Sessions Court Judge Bob Moon on Friday placed a Chattanooga Police officer charged with assaulting a handcuffed teen on judicial diversion.
He directed that Officer Sean O'Brien undergo 26 weeks of anger management under the AILS program. He will be on probation for up to one year, but the judge said that could be shortened if he does well on the AILS program.
Officer O'Brien said he had "taken control" of the 13-year-old after he continually cursed him and tried to incite three other teens who were arrested at the same time.
Judge Moon admonished the teen, having him stand up and telling him, "You are on the interstate to either the morgue or the penitentiary unless something changes and changes right now."
Judge Moon said the officer was within a secure facility and the teens were handcuffed and he did not feel the forceful actions he took were necessary.
A video shows the officer put his hand toward the back of the teen's head and then pressed him against a wall with his body.
The teen, Timothy Rawlings, was placed in a Baptist halfway house at Greeneville, Tn., after the Jan. 23 incident and was brought to Chattanooga for the hearing.
He testified first, saying he was laughing and not cursing the officer when he said Officer O'Brien "hit me in the head and grabbed me and threw me against a wall."
On cross-examination by attorney Lee Davis, he admitted he had incidents at Orchard Knob Middle School where he was yelling,screaming,causing fights and had been moved to the Washington Alternative School.
Rawlings also acknowledged he was on probation for stealing a Vespa scooter in North Chattanooga last June.
He denied trespassing at Memorial Hospital the night of his arrest, though several officers said he admitted he had been with a group of teens there.
He said he was at some apartments on Dodson Avenue when some other teens came up. He said he was arrested along with them.
Homicide detective Michael Wenger said Officer O'Brien told him he took the actions because he felt threatened being along with the four teens.
He said he had watched the video numerous times "and it is still not clear if he touched his head or not."
Memorial Hospital security guard Maurice Watson said he was driving near the hospital when he saw four teens in the street. He said he later pursued them after spotting them running.
He said they ran into a parking garage up toward the Mary Ellen Locher Breast Cancer Center, which was closed for the weekend. He said there had been a recent incident of vending machines being tampered with there.
He said he put out a radio message that was also heard by city officers.
Officer O'Brien said he was a state trooper in New Jersey for seven years before moving to Cleveland, Tn., to operate a business there. He said he was hired by the Chattanooga Police Department after the business was sold and he has been there for two and a half years.
He said he was off duty, but was doing an overtime job with the federal Weed and Seed program on Jan. 23. He said he was involved in the apprehension of some of the youths, and he took Rawlings and another teen in his car.
Officer O'Brien said in the car Rawlings was saying, "This is f------- b--- s---. This ain't f------ right."
He said Rawlings continued with the same language after they were inside the Detention Center. He said he first told him it was "no big deal" to try to calm him. He said he later told him to "shut up."
The officer said he finally told Rawlings, "You need to shut the f--- up."
He testified, "You can take control of a situation, or you can let it go and have worse problems."
He said he was concerned for his safety and for the other three teens, and he said it was a tense atmosphere at the center with blood on the floor from a recent fight. He said he then took the actions against Rawlings. He said if he touched his head it was only his hair.
Corey Beals, who was the officer in charge at the detention center, said Rawlings was "belligerent and loud and verbally abusive of the officer. He was calling him obscene names like b----."
He said he did not see the alleged assault, but he said on the tape it appeared the officer was swinging his hand toward the teen's head.
Capt. Susan Blaine praised the work of Officer O'Brien, saying that was the main reason he was chosen to be in the Weed and Seed program. She said, "He does an excellent job."
Judge Moon also told the officer, "Your language needs to be cleaned up. That is unacceptable - especially to a young person."
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