She says excessive force was used against her son; police say the response was appropriate

An Albany woman is seeking witnesses to an incident in which she says a police officer used excessive force on her 13-year-old son during Thursday’s River Rhythms concert.

Albany police say that any use of force was appropriate and that it was in response to the teenager not following an officer’s instructions.

The mother and police have varying reports of what happened.

Jeny Taylor said her son went to Monteith Riverpark with friends, all of them on skateboards.

Taylor was not with the boys at the concert but she called the Democrat-Herald Friday with this account:

Skateboards are not allowed in the park during concerts but her son didn’t know that, she said.

When security and police told him he had to check his skateboard at a secure area or leave the park, the boy decided to leave.

He went to tell his friend he was leaving — headed in the direction of the food court — when an officer grabbed a hold of the skateboard. The boy pulled back and the officer grabbed him by the hair, put him in a headlock and took him to the ground.

Taylor said police never told her son he was under arrest.

Officers charged the 13-year-old with trespassing and resisting arrest, and took him to the police station.

After picking him up, Taylor took her son to the hospital. She said he had abrasions on his face and back.

Eric Carter, an Albany police spokesman, gave this account:

The officer saw Taylor’s son in the park around 6 p.m. and told him he couldn’t have his skateboard there.

The teen was argumentative and the officer escorted him to the skateboard check-in booth.

About two hours later, police were told that the boy still had his skateboard inside the park. This time, the officer told him to leave.

The officer followed him to the exit, where the boy turned around and walked back to the concert area.

The officer told the boy he was under arrest and the two struggled before the boy was taken into custody.

“The force used was appropriate,” Carter said. “The force used was a result of the young man refusing to do what (the officer) said to do.”

Taylor wants to thank an unknown man in a Hawaiian shirt who she said acted with kindness toward her son during the incident.

She is asking anyone who witnessed the incident to make a statement to Albany police or to call her at 619-0190.