Tasered Teen, Mother Meet with Civil Rights Attorney

The 14-year-old tasered by Tullytown police and currently at the center of an international controversy went with his mother and met with a well-known Philadelphia civil rights and defense attorney Monday afternoon.

The teen, Joseph Williams, walked into the Center City, Philadelphia law offices of Fortunato Perri Jr. with a blue hoodie covering the injuries photographs taken last week show. Marissa Sargent, the mother of the boy, seemed caught off guard when she got to the seventh-floor law office and saw a gaggle of journalist.

Perri told LevittownNow.com in a one-on-one interview in his office that all accounts from the boy indicate borough police used “excessive force.”

As of 4 p.m., authorities said they were not aware of an formal complaint filed with law enforcement about the incident.

Private investigators working an investigation into the case said Williams suffered a nose fracture, black eyes and abrasions during the incident last Tuesday afternoon. Private investigator and paralegal Edward Lloyd detailed the injuries for reporters Monday afternoon and made allegations that Sargent was not present to sign off on the boy’s injuries while he was treated at Lower Bucks Hospital.

“We’re set on getting the young boy better first,” Perri said when asked about possible legal action against Tullytown authorities.

However, Perri did say that civil action was likely against the police department based on the injuries the teen suffered during what he contends was an “assault.”

Tullytown police chief Daniel Doyle confirmed Monday that an investigation into the incident had been turned over to the District Attorney’s Office. He added the FBI had been alerted to the investigation.

Perri, a former prosecutor, said he had experience dealing with alleged police brutality and cases that involved social media. The lawyer handled the recent case of a Philadelphia police supervisor accused of punching a woman who he thought had poured beer on officers after the Puerto Rican Day Parade. The officer was found not guilty and has since rejoined the police force.

According to authorities, police fired a single taser barb toward the 14-year-old handcuffed teen last Tuesday as he ran toward busy Route 13 after he escaped from a police vehicle. The barb struck the boy in the shoulder and cheek as he turned back, Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler said on Saturday. The teen’s mother contents that police tasered him in the face and beat him.

Court paperwork first obtained by LevittownNow.com shows Williams was detained along with a woman and his 19-year-old cousin, Jordan Gibson, who was charged with retail theft, corruption of a minor, two counts of reckless endangering another person, fleeing or attempting to elude an officer and related offenses. The woman detained was not charged.

According to police:

The arrests came after Tullytown police were called to the Walmart for the group of that were accused of shop lifting $31.93 worth of merchandise last Tuesday at about 2:30 p.m. The F-150 driven by Gibson allegedly sped at “high speeds” through the Levittown Town Center shopping and was then chased by police onto Route 13. The F-150 struck the rear of a car before officers trapped in as it drove into the Route 13 construction zone and took the three retail theft suspects into custody.

Heckler said as the 14-year-old boy sat handcuffed in the back of patrol car he somehow managed to escape and ran for it. A Tullytown officer gave chase on foot, repeatedly yelled for the boy to stop and warned him he would use the taser, Heckler said. After the boy did not comply, Heckler said the officer fired his taser to stop the boy from running handcuffed into busy afternoon Route 13 traffic, where construction barriers would have likely trapped him in the lanes of travel.

“If he would have ran out there and been hit by a cement truck, you’d be hearing a hoo-ha about it,” Heckler said Saturday.

“[The boy] probably turned around to see if the officer was chasing him when the barb caught his cheek,” the district attorney said. “With handcuffs there was nothing to break his fall as his legs gave out.”

Sargent first posted a message with the bloodied and bruised son on Facebook over the week. The photo has since been shared more than 53,000 times and has captured the attention of media across the nation.

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