Cops say boy was Tasered in the face "for his safety."

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14-year-old Joey Williams after his encounter with police
TULLYTOWN, PA - A woman turned to Facebook and social media for help in seeking justice for her son whom she says was severely injured during his violent encounter with the police and then isolated from her for three days. She says that her son was "brutally tortured" by Bucks County police officers after being arrested, handcuffed, and shocked in the face by a Taser.

The extensive lacerations, bruising, and black eyes were allegedly the result of the teen being tasered - while handcuffed - and falling once to the pavement. This was done because officers feared for his safety as he was close to traffic.

According to police reports, 14-year-old Joseph "Joey" Williams and his cousin, 19-year-old Jordan Gibson, were arrested after being accused of shoplifting $31.93 worth of merchandise from a local Walmart. Following a car chase involving the police and Gibson's F-150, the vehicle was ultimately trapped in a construction zone and the two unarmed teens were taken into custody.

Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler told reporters that Williams managed to escape the patrol car in which he was sitting while handcuffed and tried to make a run for it. One of the Tullytown officers initially gave chase on foot while ordering Williams to stop and warning him that he would use the Taser. Williams did not immediately comply, and, according to Heckler, "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."

Heckler went on to present the State's account of the encounter:
"[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."
Joey's mother, Marissa Sargeant, alleges that her son is the victim of excessive force used by the police to torture and brutalize him while he was handcuffed, and that they then frightened him to keep him from telling anyone. She is convinced that he was struck in the face by the Taser barb and "punched" several times in the face causing a nasal fracture as he left Walmart and was approached by authorities. Told of Heckler's explanation of falling as the cause of the severity of his injuries, Sargeant responded: "That's impossible. Did he get up and fall 15 more times?"

David Heckler denies that the officers acted inappropriately, but concedes:
"One question that will need to be answered is how in fact did a boy handcuffed in the back of a patrol car get free."
Heckler then somewhat mockingly chided, "If he would have ran out there and been hit by a cement truck, you'd be hearing a hoo-ha about it."
Marissa Sargeant's son was left severely beaten by police (Source: YouTube.com)

Marissa Sargeant's son was left severely beaten by police (Source: YouTube.com)

Williams was taken to Lower Bucks Hospital and treated for his injuries and then taken to the Bucks County Juvenile Detention Center in Doylestown Township a short time later. During this time, Marissa Sargeant claims that she was neither informed of her son's situation nor allowed to see or speak with him once she learned what had happened. "They didn't want me to see him," she said. "They wanted to hide him as long as they could."

Williams' mother is convinced that her son's injuries are the result of more than a fall after being chased and falling to the ground after being tasered. Private investigator and paralegal Edward Lloyd described Williams injuries for reporters, including a nose fracture, black eyes and abrasions . He also restated Sargeant's allegation that she was not present to sign off on her sons injuries while he was being treated at Lower Bucks Hospital, and that he was told to sign off on his own medical treatment and discharge before being transferred to the juvenile detention center. Sargeant alleges that she was prevented from seeing her son for 3 days in total and that her son's rights were violated because police officials "wouldn't let me see him at the police station."

On her Facebook page, Marissa Sargeant alleges that the Tullytown Police Department told her that she could not come down to the station to help her son. She went anyway. Upon arriving at the station, she claims that she was not allowed to enter and that the officers only spoke with her through an unopened door. Even more inexplicably, Sargeant claims that the officer she spoke with informed her that her son was "fine," and "we ordered him a pizza."

Sargeant countered:
"He's a minor, I'm his parent, and I should've been able to talk to him while I was there,"
Sargeant said that a mystery shopper saw Jordan Gibson take a BB gun from a case and put it in her son's backpack. But according to the LevittownNow.com report, "The alleged BB gun was not listed in the probable cause affidavit filed against Gibson."

Marissa Sargeant does not dispute that what her son did was wrong, but in an interview with LevittownNow.com she asked, "...look at the picture, you think he deserved all that for retail theft." Stealing and then fleeing from police officers, while against the law, is not punishable by potentially disfiguring the face of an unarmed 14-year-old whose sense of judgment reflects both his age and naivete. It is not within the purview of the local police authority to absolve suspects of their right to be treated humanely, no matter the crime.

The taser device was originally designed as a less-lethal weapon that could be employed on the force continuum below the handgun. It was meant to to be used as a weapon to stop a threatening person, not as a compliance tool.

Pennsylvania citizens have tired of this pattern of behavior from their public servants and plan to rally this Wednesday (Nov. 27) on behalf of Joseph Williams against the Tullytown Police officers who Tasered him in the face while handcuffed, fractured his nose, and locked him away for three days without being able to contact with his mother or legal representation.

Marissa Sargeant summed up the frustration of a community whose relationship with the local police authority remains fractured at best:
"I just want some justice. I even pray for the police officers because they need help."