In New Jersey, a mishandled police operation at a deli resulted in officers mistakenly apprehending a 13-year-old boy instead of a 22-year-old suspect, prompting an internal probe as the boy’s family seeks justice.
The incident unfolded when Alkyair Williams, 13, entered Jenny Deli and Grocery in East Orange on Friday afternoon. Surveillance footage obtained by WABC reveals that while he was shopping for a T-shirt, he was unexpectedly tackled by six officers.
As Alkyair approached the exit, an officer charged in and pressed him against a pile of boxes. Within moments, five more officers joined in, piling on top of the teen after bringing him to the ground, as captured in the video.
Meanwhile, two officers stood outside, preventing Alkyair’s mother, Amirah Williams, from entering the store. When she was finally allowed inside, she found her son, visibly shaken, standing with his hands cuffed behind his back.
Amirah expressed to the media that the officers failed to clarify the situation to Alkyair.
“I kept asking why they had my son in custody,” Amirah recounted. “They said it was a case of mistaken identity. I asked, mistaken for whom? They mentioned a 22-year-old with dreadlocks and visible tattoos. I pointed out that my son doesn’t look 22, has no tattoos, and doesn’t even have dreadlocks.”
The officers did not identify their names or badge numbers and “drove off like nothing ever happened,” Amirah said.
“I just want them to take accountability. I want apologies,” she said.
Alkyair said that he “got PTSD” from the whirlwind encounter.
“I don’t want to go outside no more. Me, me, I’m a normal kid that just go outside, that want to hang with their friends. No, that ain’t me no more. I don’t want to go to school no more,” he told the outlet.
The Newark Police Division’s Office of Professional Standards launched an internal investigation after the chaotic arrest.
The East Orange Office of Public Information confirmed that the East Orange Police were not involved in the incident.
