A claim statement states that the girl’s mother, Elba Pope, will seek damages for “mental distress and psychological / emotional distress and trauma” and “bodily harm and significant pain,” as well as coverage for any future medical treatment and mental health care.
The pope’s daughter ran out of the house in distress because she was “upset because her mother and stepfather were arguing,” said the notice CNN received from the Lorenzo Napolitano family’s lawyer.
Pope explicitly accused the officers of “willful, reckless, and malicious” behavior and alleges “negligence, violation of state and federal constitutional rights, inflicting emotional distress, assault, excessive force, false arrest, (and) false imprisonment,” even though she the scope of the claim was not limited to those allegations, the notice says.
Before an individual files a lawsuit for damages against a city, New York law requires the plaintiff to prepare and file a formal notice explaining the nature of the claim.
“No 9-year-old should be handcuffed. No 9-year-old should be sprayed with pepper spray. No one should dismiss their humanity because of a badge. No human should be treated like that,” Napolitano said in a statement. ‘Reform is needed. Reform can come, but only if we’re willing to listen to this little girl screaming for the protection she hasn’t received from the Rochester Police Department. ”
One concerned officer has been suspended and two have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation, a Tuesday statement from Rochester Chief of Police Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan said. Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren condemned the incident on Monday, calling it “just plain awful.”
CNN has contacted Rochester Police and the mayor for comment on the notification of the claim.
Family problem call
The agents responded to what the police called a report of “family troubles” and the subsequent meeting was sharply criticized by city and government officials. The incident has sparked protests in the community.
Two camera videos from the January 29 encounter show officers restraining the child, putting her in handcuffs and trying to get her into the back of a police car as she repeatedly cries and calls for her father.
At one point an officer says, “You act like a child.”
“I am a child!” the girl replies.
Later in the video you see a female officer talking to the girl and finally saying, “This is your last chance or pepper spray will get in your eyeballs.” About a minute later, another officer can be heard saying, “Just spray her at this point.” The female officer shakes a can that looks like pepper spray and the child continues to scream.
Police say the girl was transported to Rochester General Hospital and later released.
At a press conference Sunday, Herriott-Sullivan said the girl’s treatment was not acceptable.
“I’m not going to stand here and tell you it’s okay for a 9-year-old to be sprayed with pepper spray. It’s not,” she said. “I don’t see that as who we are as a department, and we’re going to do the work we need to do to make sure things like this don’t happen.”
Warren said the girl reminded her of her own young daughter.
On Monday, Senator Samra Brouk and Assemblyman Demond Meeks, both Democrats, introduced a law that would ban the use of chemicals by police against minors in the state, a statement said.
“The shocking experience that a nine-year-old girl goes through in our community – including handcuffs and pepper spray – should never happen to another child,” Brouk said in a statement. “This legislation will ensure that when a child is in crisis, they will never again face such violence in the form of pepper spray or other chemical irritants.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James tweeted Monday that her office is also investigating the incident. She called the incident “deeply disturbing and completely unacceptable.”
Police did not identify the officers involved in the incident or the child.
CNN has not been able to verify the 9-year-old’s race with authorities or family members.
Ray Sanchez, Mirna Alsharif, Laura James, Eric Levenson, Saffeya Ahmed, Sarah Jorgensen, Jessica Prater, Kristina Sgueglia and Hollie Silverman contributed to this report.