School resource officer accused of body slamming teen at Myrtle Grove K-8 – NBC 6 South Florida

Anez Donaldson, 14, walked into her attorney’s office Tuesday afternoon for a news conference with both of her arms in slings.

Her attorney Larry Handfield said she suffered a broken thumb, dislocated shoulder, and emotional trauma allegedly at the hands of a school resource officer.

“Picked her up, body slammed her to the ground,” Handfield said.

The incident happened last Wednesday at Myrtle Grove K-8 in Miami Gardens, where Donaldson is a 7th-grade student.

According to the police report, right before dismissal, Donaldson was seen getting into an argument with an adult, who the attorney said was making threats to the kids.

The officer claims Donaldson approached the adult in an aggressive manner, and in an effort to separate the two, he said Donaldson hit him and proceeded to kick and resist arrest.

But she said that’s not what happened.

“He says that I was kicking and pushing and fighting him but at the moment I couldn’t really see nothing because at the time, I was on the floor,” Donaldson said. “I was just trying to gasp for air because I couldn’t breathe at the time.”

The arrest form stated the officer was in full uniform, but the child’s attorney said she didn’t know that because he approached her from behind.

“Unbeknownst to her, she pushed the person back as far as the hand not realizing it was a police officer, and the police officer, in an aggressive manner, picked her up as the evidence will show, body slammed her, laid on top of her,” Handfield said.

Handfield said the only video of the incident is from the body camera worn by the officer which they’ve requested.

Donaldson said after being arrested, she didn’t get treatment for hours and is still in a lot of pain.

“Everything really hurts because when I sleep at night I’m always waking up because I have to change positions,” Donaldson said.

Now, the family is preparing to file a lawsuit.

“We want to seek justice, we want the public to be made aware of what happened, and we want to hold those accountable to be responsible so that something like this doesn’t happen,” Handfield said.

NBC6 reached out to Miami-Dade Public Schools and a spokesperson sent the following statement:

“Miami-Dade County Public Schools is aware of an incident involving an officer and a student at Myrtle Grove K-8 Center that occurred last week. The Miami-Dade Schools Police Department is currently investigating this matter.”

According to Handfield, the school resource officer was back at the school the day after the incident but has since been removed.