A straight-As, model 16-year-old Philadelphia high school student is in a wheelchair after a police encounter during which cops hit him, handcuffed him, groped him and squeezed his genitals so forcefully that he may no longer be able to have children.
The student, Darrin Manning, is black, and attends the Mathematics, Civics and Science Charter School of Philadelphia. Last week, Manning and some of his school basketball teammates were headed to a local gym for a game when the cops approached them. The reason is unknown, but Manning told local news that one of his teammates may have made a remark to one of the officers.
The other boys ran, but Manning–correctly assuming that he had done nothing wrong–remained behind, according to local news.
Police then hit him in the face with a pair of handcuffs, according to Manning.
After restraining him, a female cop administered an abusive pat down.
“She patted me down and then she touched my butt and then my private parts,” he said. “And then she grabbed and squeezed and pulled my private parts and I felt something pop.”
That popping feeling was one of Manning’s testicles rupturing. (RELATED: Police forced man to have anal surgery during crazy drug search, now settling for $1.6 million)
Still, he didn’t complain, and waited patiently to be released as police charged him with assaulting an officer, resisting arrest and reckless endangerment.
When Manning finally made it to the hospital, the doctors gave him emergency surgery. He is now recovering in a wheelchair. He may no longer be able to have children, according to his doctors.
The police tell a slightly different story. They claim the kids were wearing ski masks, and that Manning started a fight with an officer and threw three punches (all details disputed by Manning). The police report admits, however, that there were “No injuries sustained to police.”
Internal affairs is investigating the matter.
Manning’s mother initially suspected her son might have been exaggerating his innocence, so she went back to the street corner where the encounter occurred, and interviewed witnesses. The witnesses said Manning did nothing wrong, and police action was unjustified.
A reporter for Philly.com who also spoke with witnesses confirmed Manning’s version of events.
Several witnesses, who wished to remain anonymous, suggested that the brutality seemed racially motivated.
Manning’s mother, Ikea Coney, who said she always taught her son to respect the police and not make trouble for them, now considers herself to be lucky he survived the encounter at all.
“I’m just grateful they didn’t just kill him,” she said in a statement to local news.
Manning is a model student with a perfect conduct record at his school.
One of the officers involved in Manning’s arrest has been named as Thomas Purcell. Purcell has twice been accused of making false arrests but was cleared by investigators in both cases.
The Philadelphia police department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.