Officers accused of using racial slurs, breaking boy’s arm

Monday, Feb. 8, 1999 | 11:05 a.m.

The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating, and the mother of Parrish "Pookie" Young Jr., whose arm was broken, has contacted an attorney.

Police Department spokesman Lt. Rick Alba said Thursday the department began an internal investigation after the Wednesday morning incident though Tammy Lyons, Pookie's mother, has yet to file a complaint with the department's Internal Affairs Bureau.

Lyons' aunt, Caroline Lyons, said Pookie was cited for resisting arrest and impeding traffic, both misdemeanors. She said her great-nephew's arm was broken between the elbow and the shoulder.

Twelve-year-old Alex Solomon said the incident began when he, Dwayne Childs, 13, and Pookie met to go to school about 7 a.m. Wednesday. After making their morning trek to a doughnut shop, they walked to their school bus stop at Mojave Road and Charleston Boulevard.

Alex said their friend, Zaya Thompson, 12, had a can of potato chips, which she tossed to them. The can went into the street, Alex said, and he and Pookie chased after it. Then, he said, they started "play fighting" over it.

An unidentified woman stopped her car at that time and told them to stay out of the road because they could get hurt.

Just behind her was a Las Vegas police squad car and a white vehicle. An officer in uniform got out of the squad car, and another man, who identified himself as an officer, got out of the white vehicle.

The officers scolded the children for running into the street at the school bus stop, but Alex and another student, Candace Reynard, 11, said the officers then started using racial slurs. All the children involved in the incident are black.

One of the girls at the bus stop yelled an expletive to the officers. Another girl repeated the derogatory rebuff, and Pookie started laughing.

"I said, 'A-hahaha,' " the 12-year-old said. "One of the men said, 'This ain't no joke. Bring your little ass over here.' "

Pookie said he dropped his school books and walked toward the two. When he was within arm's reach, they grabbed him and slammed him against the police car, he said.

"Pookie walked over to the cop, to the car, and as he was walking over, as soon as he got near them, they took him," said Gary Hamilton, 26, who was driving the school bus the children were waiting to board.

"And one cop had his head down, and the other tried to get, I guess, what looked like an arm bar," he said, referring to a method of immobilizing someone's arms.

Pookie's left arm then "just gave away," Hamilton said.

The officers then took Pookie to University Medical Center.