13-Year-Old Girl In Arrest Video Charged With Assaulting St. Paul Officer

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Officials say the 13-year-old girl seen being arrested by St. Paul police in a video widely shared on social media is charged with assault.

The Ramsey County Attorney's Office said Friday that the teen is facing a count of fourth-degree assault in connection to her arrest last week.

According to a police incident report, officers arrested the teen after responding to the BP gas station at 1347 University Avenue West, an area described in the report as a "hotbed of criminal activity."

The 13-year-old fled the gas station and assaulted one officer and tried to assault others, the report says.

Video of her arrest appeared on social media. Witnesses said it was shot at the UPS store across the light rail tracks from the gas station.

The video shows two officers holding the teen down on the ground while she refuses to follow their commands to turn over. A third officer steps in to get the teen into handcuffs.

Police said that the girl had been violating an order not to trespass and violently scratched and punched an officer as they tried to arrest her. The video, which only shows part of the arrest, does not capture what police described.

After the video gained traction on social media, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter called for an investigation into what happened. He urged the public not to jump to conclusions about the teen or officers in involved.

Davida Conover, the teen's mother, told WCCO that her daughter has mental health issues, adding that police are aware of that due to prior contact with her daughter.

Conover said that she was "totally disgusted" when she watched the arrest video on Facebook. She said that one of the officers in the video has treated her daughter unfairly in the past.

Police say they offered family resources to the teen's family the day before the arrest. The St. Paul Police Federation say it stands by the officers' actions.

After her arrest, the teen was taken to a juvenile detention center. Her mother did not indicate whether or not she was still in custody.

The teen is slated to appear in court on Nov. 14. According to Minnesota statues, fourth-degree assault of a peace officer is a gross misdemeanor.