Lansing police chief: 'That is not the conduct...we want from our Lansing police officers'

LANSING - A day after a Lansing police officer was videotaped punching a teenage girl seated in the back of a patrol car, the department's top official told protesters it's not the behavior he expects from his officers.  

"That is not the conduct of what we want from our Lansing police officers," Lansing Police Chief Mike Yankowski said Saturday. "That is not the outcome that we are looking for. With that being said, we've got to take this case from A to Z and make sure that we get all the facts and we get all the issues onto the table and we evaluate per our polices, procedures, our core values."

Police officers Lindsey Howley, who punched the 16-year-old girl in the legs multiple times after the girl refused to put both legs in the car, and Bailey Ueberroth were placed on paid administrative leave Saturday, he said. Howley has been with the department for about a year, Ueberroth for six months. 

Both Yankowski and Lansing Mayor Andy Schor attended the citizen-organized protest against police brutality held outside Lansing Police Department on Saturday afternoon. A crowd of more than 100 took part. 

During the protest participants took a knee every 15 minutes while the national anthem played. The gesture originated with Colin Kaepernick, a former football quarterback who took a knee on the field during the national anthem to protest racism.

Organizer Michael Lynn Jr., a Lansing resident, said the video of Friday's incident, taken by his daughter Mya Lynn, disgusted him.

"It could have been my daughter," he said. "Watching it was a helpless feeling. At what extent do we have to sit back and watch our children be beat down and murdered?"

Videos circulated

The incident happened about 11 a.m. Friday in the 1100 block of Dakin Street in the Potter-Walsh neighborhood. Videos shot by multiple bystanders circulated widely on social media Friday afternoon. 

Officers went there to pick up the 16-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy, who were wanted for escaping custody and probation violations, Yankowski told reporters during a press conference Friday afternoon.

Officers said the girl was resisting arrest, Yankowski said Friday, and Howley used a training technique that involves a blow to the thigh as a distraction in order to get a resisting suspect to comply.

The department's policy calls for officers to use only the amount of force that's "objectively reasonable," he said. 

At Saturday's protest Schor said he doesn't believe Howley's actions aligned with what the city's police department teaches.

"I don't believe she used something that we train people to do," he said.   

Protesters gathered

The mother of the teen girl who was arrested, Tonia Lilly, 39, attended the protest but didn't speak to the crowd. She said the mother of her daughter's boyfriend phoned her during the arrest. She could hear her daughter screaming over the phone, she said. 

When Lilly saw the video, she was angry.

"Regardless of what she did, what she is being arrested for, she was assaulted and she is still a minor," she said.

Lilly said her daughter was taken to an Urgent Care facility after the incident for scrapes and bruises.

Yankowski said Friday that the girl was not injured and was taken to the Ingham County Youth Center.

Saturday he said police have since spoken to the girl and photographed scrapes she sustained during the incident.

Howley suffered minor injuries during the incident, he said. Other officers also suffered minor injuries, he indicated.

Given the way Howley "was punching my daughter, I would think that her wrist should be sore," Lilly said.  

Lilly said she hasn't seen or spoken to her daughter since the incident. She won't be able to see her until Sunday, during the youth center's visiting hours, she said.

Investigation ongoing

Yankowski said the department will thoroughly investigate the incident to determine if the officers followed procedures. Most internal reviews take 90 days or less, he said.

Saturday the department released additional body camera footage taken from both officers. Portions were redacted, Yankowski said, to safeguard the rights of the teens involved.

Howley's body camera footage shows a foot pursuit, then the officers carrying the girl handcuffed to the police vehicle. She was placed in the back but left one foot outside of the vehicle. 

The footage shows Howley punching the girl's leg several times.

"Break your leg. Put your leg in," Howley said, then hit her several more times.

"You're not supposed to put your hands on me," the girl says.

"It can be over if you put your leg in the car," Ueberroth says. "Is it really worth this?"

Protest participants said watching the videos of the girl's arrest that circulated on Friday compelled them to show up.

Sharon Murchie, a high school teacher in Bath, said police officers should be trained to deescalate a situation.

"I've never once, in 25 years, had to punch a student, and I am in rooms with 30, 80 students at a time who are much bigger than me," Murchie said. "You don't have to harm them. The police officer's response that one officer had only been on the force for six months and the other for a year is ridiculous. Their entire job is to protect and serve." 

Angela Waters Austin, a Lansing resident, said she reached out to Lilly after she saw the video. What happened didn't surprise her.

"It's only surprising that it was captured on video," she said. "I think people are wondering if things like this happen in Lansing every day. The data says that young people are arrested constantly under the radar, and often, because of their vulnerability and their family's, no one pays attention. If it had not been for that video, it would have been just another day for Lansing Police Department."

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Contact Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ.