INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis man has been charged with battery and intimidation after video shows him allegedly pushing and punching a teenager on the city’s west side Saturday afternoon.
According to a police report, IMPD officers were called to the 700 block of Aberdeen Drive, near Rockville and South High School roads, for a disturbance around 3:20 p.m. Jan. 25.
Security video sent to 13News by a neighbor shows a man, later identified by police as 45-year-old Jason Harrell, pulling up to the boy sitting on a motorized bike, yelling at him to get off of the street.
Court documents say the 14-year-old boy’s mother told police that Harrell would frequently become upset by neighborhood kids riding motorized bikes either on the sidewalk or in the road.
In the video, you can hear Harrell threatening to kill the boy and his family.
Britney Schwitzke is the boy’s mom. She posted the video to Facebook, along with photos of her son’s injuries.
“That just that breaks my heart to know that my kid felt like that, and there was no one here like me or his dad weren’t here to protect him,” Schwitzke said.
Once Harrell gets out of his car, video shows him pushing the boy to the ground, then punching him. After the boy gets up, grabs his bike and drives away, Harrell then gets back in his vehicle and follows the boy.
According to court documents, after Harrell followed the boy, he got out of his car and pushed the boy to the ground again. He then allegedly punched the boy in the face while he was still on the ground. The boy was reportedly still wearing his full-face helmet at the time.
Court documents allege Harrell told the boy, “Stay out of the road or I’ll kill you.”
The boy told police that the punch gave him a bloody lip.
Later, court documents say police visited Harrell’s house in the 800 block of Aberdeen Drive, where he allegedly told police children riding on motorbikes “plagued” the neighborhood. He then allegedly denied pushing or hitting the boy, saying he only yelled at him for his “habitual” behavior.
Court documents say Harrell was wearing the same green short-sleeved shirt and dark gym shorts that he is seen wearing in the doorbell camera video.
Police arrested Harrell and took him to the Marion County jail.
Schwitzke says her son fears retaliation from Harrell following his eventual release from jail.
“Just after they took him away in cuffs, he asked me, ‘How long is he going to be in jail? When’s he going to get out? If he gets out, is he going to come to the house and try to kill me?'” Schwitzke said.
Prosecutors charged Harrell with two counts of battery resulting in bodily injury and one count of intimidation.
“He’s threatened them lots of times,” Schwitzke said. “He sent the police to my house lots of times, but they always say they’re not doing anything wrong. They stay in the neighborhood. They’re not out on the main roads or anything like that. They’re outside, playing, being kids.”
Harrell’s initial hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 8:30 a.m.
Schwitzke says her son is not letting this stop him from playing outside. But as a mom, she’s holding him just a little bit tighter.
Via WTHR