According to WINK News, sixteen-year-old Jack Rodeman was tasered and arrested without cause in Fort Meyers, Florida, by Florida Highway Patrol trooper George Smyrnios on June 16. Rodeman is seen on video standing at his girlfriend’s back door on the patio texting.
The teen was walking to his girlfriend’s house along the route he took daily when Smyrnios followed him. After the bigoted cop followed Rodeman into the backyard, he tasered the teen, who fell and landed on a cement fire pit before falling onto the ground.
Rodeman hit the cement with such force that one of the bricks was dislodged from the fire pit.
Despite the teen’s girlfriend coming to the backyard and telling Smyrnios that he was her boyfriend and had permission to be there, Rodeman was still handcuffed and arrested as he lay on the ground. Troopers must include all facts in the police report when their Taser is deployed, and Smyrnios omitted any mention of Rodeman’s girlfriend and her comments.
The bogus charges against the boy include loitering, a criminal traffic violation and possession of medical marijuana. Worse yet, the teenager is being held at the Juvenile Assessment Center for 21 days.
Rodeman’s mother, Kristina Rodeman, hired Attorney Derek Tyler to represent her son. She believes her son was racially profiled. Tyler said that they would be vigorous in defending Rodeman against the bogus charges.
“We are going to vigorously defend all of the charges and we are also going to vigorously pursue every legal avenue available regarding the unmitigated, unjustified torture that he was subjected to by the officer involved,” said Tyler.
The mother, who’s white, was concerned that her son wasn’t being treated for his injuries inside the detention center.
“In this country, in this state, our criminal justice system should not … at all condone torture, especially of a child,” said the teen’s mom. “I think he was totally profiled, that cop turned around and followed him back that direction. It’s a Black kid in black clothes.”
“I hate it. I just want him to come home.,” she said.
David J. Thomas, a professor of forensic studies at Florida Gulf Coast University and a former police officer, was appalled by the trooper’s behavior.
“The most egregious part to me is here’s a kid who was offering no active resistance but passive resistance by being on his phone and texting and because he failed to comply with your lawful order, you shot him with a Taser and he fell and hit his head on a brick.”
Smyrnios claimed that Rodeman wasn’t complying with his verbal commands and that he “darted” into the bushes. He also said that he couldn’t see the teen’s hands, despite Rodeman telling him he was texting his girlfriend to tell her to come outside. Smyrnios amended the first police report to say that he thought the suspect might have had a weapon.
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating.
