Limbless Teen Falls Into a Serious Altercation With County Sheriff

an unbelievable attack made by Pima County sheriff

Limbless Teen Falls Into a Serious Altercation With County Sheriff

Nevaeh, Beat Investigator

September 26th, 2019 marks the day of an altercation between Pima county Sheriff, Deputy Manuel Van Santen, and 15-year-old amputee, Immanuel. 


A sheriff’s deputy is on administrative leave after he was recorded wrestling the 15-year-old quadruple amputee to the floor while arresting him for disorderly conduct at a group home, officials said Friday.

The shirtless 15-year-old screams as he lies face down on the kitchen floor of his Tucson group home. He has no arms or legs, so he couldn’t fight back. A sheriff’s deputy at least twice his size then bends over him and pins him to the ground, using his body weight to restrain the quadruple amputee.

The eight-minute cellphone video, which was first published by KOLD, has now prompted an investigation at the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. 

But Pima County Public Defender Joel Feinman told The Washington Post that the disturbing incident likely wouldn’t have come out to the public if it weren’t for another teenager at the group home, who recorded the confrontation and then had his head slammed into the wall by deputies.

The deputy from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department who responded to the call, noted that Immanuel was disturbing the peace and decided to restrain him, Feinman said. That’s when C.J., the other 16-year-old who also lives at the group home, started recording from another room.

At the start of the video, the deputy in wraparound sunglasses can be seen kneeling on the ground and holding the teenager in a headlock. Immanuel starts to get upset as he tells the officer not to hold him down.

When the deputy lets the teen relax, Immanuel tries to break free, but he doesn’t get far. The deputy tackles him, wrapping his arms around the teenager and lays on top of him as he forces him to the floor. Three minutes pass as the quadruple amputee swears and screams at the deputy, who uses his forearm to hold him pinned to the ground.

Eventually, Immanuel stops resisting and the officer lets him get up, asking him what his problem is, and why he kept moving when he was told not to move. As the 15-year-old insists he doesn’t have a problem, the cop gets louder, bending over so that his face was inches apart from the teenager’s.

C.J., who was recording the scene as he eats his breakfast in the next room, interrupts. “Hey, you asked him a question, and he answered,” he tells the deputy.

“Shut the hell up!” the cop snapped back. He told the 16-year-old to go to his room. C.J. responded that he’d been eating his cereal and wasn’t allowed to be in his room. The deputy storms over, screaming at C.J. and telling him to stay out of something that doesn’t involve him. “You shut the hell up!” he yells again. C.J. tells him to get out of his face.

A third teenager took the phone and began filming as C.J. was turned around and placed in handcuffs. Without warning, the deputy slammed the head of the unsuspecting 16-year-old into the wall. There’s a loud crash, and then the black teen is led to a squad car by the two officers.

Both C.J. and Immanuel were arrested for disorderly conduct, Feinman said. The deputy hadn’t been wearing a body camera, but when C.J. met an attorney from the public defender’s office, he suggested watching the video he had captured before his arrest.