NYPD officer suspended after getting into a fight, allegedly punching a teenage girl

A New York Police officer has been suspended and is under investigation after a video captured on Tuesday appeared to show him repeatedly hitting a 14-year-old girl.

An NYPD spokesperson told Insider that the officer, a 14 year veteran, is under investigation for use of force by the Internal Affairs Bureau. According to the department, two officers “observed a large fight involving multiple female juveniles” at 2:40 p.m. local time on Tuesday.

“While attempting to take one of [the] individuals into custody, a 14-year-old female obstructed the arrest by reaching for an officer’s handcuffs and striking the officer in the head,” the department informed Insider.

“The officer, assigned to the 121st Precinct, utilized physical force against this female by striking her with his hand several times. The 14-year-old female was taken into custody and removed to a local hospital where she was treated and released.”

A short clip of the footage was captured showing the officer appearing to punch the girl. A person in the crowd is heard saying: “He’s hitting her? He’s hitting her?”

The 14-year-old girl, Kyonna Robinson, said in an interview with CBS News that a girl had began to fight her younger 12-year-old sister when she jumped in.

“The girl is bigger than my sister, fighting my sister, of course, I’m gonna jump in. I didn’t even know what was going on. I just ran over there,” Kyonna said. She said the officer then “pushed me and then I punched him in his face two times and we just started fighting.”

“I don’t care who you are. You touch me, I’m gonna fight back,” Kyonna told CBS News, who reported that she has since been charged as a juvenile for resisting arrest and assaulting an officer.