Teen's confrontation with NYC parks officer caught on camera leads to investigation

New York authorities are investigating after a viral video captured chaos near Manhattan's Battery Park as officers attempted to arrest a young girl allegedly selling fruit with her family.

In the video, a New York City Department of Parks and Recreation officer appears to restrain the girl and attempt to handcuff her while an NYPD officer appears to restrain another woman. Some bystanders yell at the officers as some attempt to free the girl. Shouts of “let her go” and “don’t touch her” can be heard.

Amid the scuffle, bystanders pull the girl away after she and the officer fall to the ground. The end of the video shows the parks officer kneeling and talking to another officer after the girl appears to escape.

The video was posted to X on Sunday afternoon by Marc Rebillet, an electronic music artist who rose to fame on social media during the pandemic. Rebillet wrote alongside the video that the police were “busy” on a Sunday afternoon “trying to handcuff a twelve-year-old girl who is selling fruit with her family.”

Rebillet wrote that he encountered parks department officials trying to put a fruit cart in a trash can and that the family was “apparently” selling fruit without a permit. “Okay fine, talk to the parents. DON'T SCARF THE CHILD,” he wrote.

“Embarrassing and dangerous behavior. Shame on Parks, shame on NYPD,” the post read. The video had garnered 46,000 likes and 10,600 reposts as of Monday afternoon.

In a statement to USA TODAY, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation said the incident was being investigated internally “to ensure all agency protocols were followed.” .

“In a joint operation with the New York Police Department, Parks Enforcement Patrol (PEP) officers confiscated perishable items from unlicensed sellers in the park. As officers attempted to destroy unfit items, consumption, two individuals intervened,” said Kelsey Jean-Baptiste, a spokesperson for the department.

In the incident, a 32-year-old woman was ticketed for appearing in court while a 14-year-old boy was issued a juvenile report, Jean-Baptiste said.

Rebillet did not respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY.

The NYPD summoned street vendors to criminal court 1,244 times in 2023, nearly six times more than in 2019, according to an investigation by The City.

Cybele Mayes-Osterman is a breaking news reporter for USA Today. You can contact her by email at [email protected]. Follow her on X @CybeleMO.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New York parks investigating after 14-year-old girl arrested for 'selling fruit'