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Mother sues after her son, 16, is tasered, beaten and body-slammed by hospital security guards as he suffered a 'mental health episode'

A North Carolina mother has filed a lawsuit claiming that her 16-year-old son, whom she had taken to a hospital during a mental health crisis, was hit with a stun gun, beaten and body slammed by security guards and sheriff's deputies, leaving him bleeding and handcuffed. 

The complaint stems from the violent confrontation involving Jessica Long's son, which took place in December 2019 at Atrium Health Lincoln in Lincolton. 

Long had taken the teen to the hospital and asked security officers to help get him inside.

A 45-minute surveillance video cited in the lawsuit shows a handcuffed teenager sitting outside Atrium Health Lincoln on a curb when he is punched in the face by a deputy responding to 911 call. 

Jessica Long has filed a lawsuit, accusing hospital security guards and North Carolina sheriff's deputies of tasing, beating and body slamming her 16-year-old sonShe took the boy to Atrium Health Lincoln in Lincolton in December 2019 during a mental health crisis

Jessica Long has filed a lawsuit, accusing hospital security guards and North Carolina sheriff's deputies of tasing, beating and body slamming her 16-year-old son . She took the boy to Atrium Health Lincoln in Lincolton in December 2019 during a mental health crisis 

Long's lawsuit alleges assault and battery and excessive force, false imprisonment, infliction of emotional distress, negligence and constitutional violations

Long's lawsuit alleges assault and battery and excessive force, false imprisonment, infliction of emotional distress, negligence and constitutional violations

Long’s attorney, Brad Smith, told the Charlotte Observer that the video clearly shows that Long and her son went to the hospital 'in crisis and in desperate need of medical care.'

About 40 minutes after he arrived, the teenager is led into the emergency room. 

The lawsuit says the boy suffered serious injuries and deals with 'persistent psychiatric trauma' from the confrontation. He was arrested for assault and other crimes, but Smith said the charges were dropped.

The lawsuit also said the defendants libeled and slandered the family by making false statements about the incident and the teenager to justify their actions, while also sharing the teen’s private medical records with unauthorized individuals.

Surveillance video shows Long bringing her son to the hospital and asking a guard for help

Surveillance video shows Long bringing her son to the hospital and asking a guard for help

Security guard Adam Harczuk comes over and pushes the 16-year-old to the ground

Security guard Adam Harczuk comes over and pushes the 16-year-old to the ground

The lawsuit names Atrium Health, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, two security guards, Lincoln County sheriff’s deputies Justin Polson and Michael Johnson, and Sheriff Bill Beam. It lists a variety of claims, including assault and battery and excessive force, false imprisonment, infliction of emotional distress, negligence and constitutional violations.

Deputy Polson filed a counter claim, in which he accuses the teenager of assault by spitting blood in his face. 

Beam and the health system have said their actions were appropriate given the teenager’s behavior. 

'Spitting in a law enforcement officer’s face... is a felonious assault and he had a right to stop that assault from occurring,' Beam said. 

Two security guards from the hospital try to stop the teen from approaching is mother's car

Two security guards from the hospital try to stop the teen from approaching is mother's car

As the boy sits on the curb in handcuffs, he allegedly spits blood in the face of a deputy who had responded to the scene

As the boy sits on the curb in handcuffs, he allegedly spits blood in the face of a deputy who had responded to the scene 

The deputy punches the teen in the face. The sheriff later defended his actions

The deputy punches the teen in the face. The sheriff later defended his actions 

Atrium said the teen’s behavior forced the security officers 'to make sure they could keep themselves, our patients, and our entire care provider team safe.'

A Charlotte attorney asked a judge to dismiss the case, citing governmental immunity and the teenager’s 'contributory negligence.'

In an interview with CBS last February, Long accused the guards and deputies of escalating the situation.  

'They just immediately went for full-blown physical force. And these were big guys, and my son's, what, maybe 120 pounds,' Long said.  

Footage of the incident taken on the hospital's surveillance cameras shows Long arriving at the emergency room with her son after midnight on December 8, 2019.  

Long's lawsuit says her son suffered serious injuries and deals with 'persistent psychiatric trauma' from the confrontation

Long's lawsuit says her son suffered serious injuries and deals with 'persistent psychiatric trauma' from the confrontation

After getting out of her car, which carried her 16-year-old son and his seven-year-old brother, Long gestures for a security guard inside the hospital to come and help them. 

The video, which has no sound, shows the teen arguing with his mother and shoving her, before security guard Adam Harczuk comes over and pushes the 16-year-old to the ground, knocking him down with such force that the teenager's shoes fly off.

According to the lawsuit, Harczuk tased the teen several times, despite Long's attempts to stop him - a claim the guard denies. 

After the teen gets back on his feet and walks back toward the car, another security officer knocks him to the ground, causing him to fall face first, and then attempts to handcuff him. 

A short time later, three sheriff's deputies arrive on the scene and help the guards restrain the teen. 

As the handcuffed boy sits on the sidewalk, Deputy Polson crouches in front of him to tell him something. Suddenly, he flinches, purportedly marking the moment when the teen spits blood in his face, and punches the youth twice in the face.

According to the lawsuit, Long asked the deputies to stop assaulting her son, which prompted Polson to charge her 'like a raging bull,' before another officer stopped him. 

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