Deputy punches 14-year-old in head repeatedly during arrest

HESPERIA, Calif. - A father in Hesperia says a San Bernardino County deputy beat up his 14-year-old son during an investigation at a local school. Now, he says the department won’t let him speak to his son.

What we know:

Deputies responded to Pathways to College in Hesperia on Wednesday around 4 p.m., after they got reports that someone had brought a gun to school.

According to the department, the deputy tried to talk to a group of boys accused of having the gun, but one of the boys, a 14-year-old, walked away. The deputy’s interaction with the boy was caught on camera. 

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In the video, the deputy was seen picking the boy up off the ground before throwing him down again. Then, the deputy punched the boy multiple times in the head. 

Off camera, witnesses could be heard shouting, "you cannot hit a kid in the head."

The deputy arrested the boy. Officials did not find a gun.

What they're saying:

The boy’s father said his son was "beat up by a police officer," calling the deputy’s actions "excessive" and "an abuse of power."

He told FOX 11 that the fight happened after the deputy had searched all the boys. After the search, the father said, the deputy tried to pull the boys to the side, but the 14-year-old refused. That’s when the struggle started.

"The officer already knew he didn't have a weapon because he had already searched him," Thomas, the boy's father, said. "That's the problem, this is what the officer did is after the fact. All three of the boys knew why they were being searched. The officers searched them. They didn't find any weapons."

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Now, he says his son is injured and still in custody, adding that officials will only talk to the family’s attorney, saying they have to "wait."

"I don’t understand what we’re waiting for," Thomas said. "I don’t understand. They haven’t formally charged him. I don’t understand any of this."

"You could clearly see that a line [was] crossed. There [are] four to five hits to the face, a punch to the gut," said attorney Brandon Mata. "…This is a 14-year-old boy."

The other side:

In a press release, the Sheriff’s Department said that "When the deputy asked to speak to the subjects who allegedly had the firearm, one of them, a 14-year-old male, walked away. When the deputy attempted to detain him, he physically assaulted the deputy, which led to a brief struggle, and a use of force occurred.".

According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, the boy was arrested for resisting arrest. The department refused to comment further.

What's next:

The teen’s father is calling for the deputy to be disciplined. 

"I want that officer put on leave. I want that officer fired — because apparently he was not trained correctly. Or maybe he was, and he just doesn’t adhere to how he was trained," he said.

The teen is still in custody.