How was a police officer allowed to lead a manhunt following a teenage prank? Authorities aren't commenting
The Delaware State Police officer who, witnesses say, led a multi-agency manhunt following a prank at his home has been indicted for assault on two teens.
Delaware Attorney General Kathleen Jennings said the officer, Cpl. Dempsey Walters, “chose to extract his own form of personal justice by embarking on a violent rampage, assaulting two defenseless minors, and attempting to conceal his misconduct.”
What Jennings and other Delaware authorities aren’t saying is how Walters was able to organize and lead officers across two departments in a police response that included a K9 unit and a helicopter.
The police action came in response to a teenager kicking at the door of the now-indicted officer’s home, before running off.
Specific questions that have gone unanswered include the following:
Why did other officers, including superiors, allow Walters to lead an investigation if they believed he was a victim?
What evidence or suspicions were those other officers working with when they detained two groups of teenage victims?
How were other police departments alerted to the incident, given that New Castle EMS says there was no 911 call? Did Walters call his superiors, prompting them to call other agencies for help?
Both the Delaware Department of Justice and the Delaware State Police cited the pending criminal case against Walters as the reason they could not answer questions.
Such a justification appears inconsistent with State Police’s previous practices, as spokespersons have frequently commented on criminal cases after charges were filed.
They even did so two years ago in another case of an indicted police officer.
The Delaware State Police also declined to answer more general questions about their own procedures, including how officers alert other departments to respond to incidents when there is no 911 call, and whether police are prohibited from investigating cases in which they are the alleged victim.
Also unanswered is whether other officers are under investigation internally for participating in the manhunt that led to the assault of the teens.
Following the incident last month, Elsmere area residents recounted how a teenage prank, called ding dong ditch, prompted Delaware State Police and officers from other agencies to swarm a quiet street with a dozen police cruisers, a K9, and a helicopter overhead.
It ended with the families of two teenagers saying police assaulted their boys in separate incidents.
Last month, Tara Murphy said her 15-year-old nephew needs reconstructive surgery on part of his face after an officer “stomped” on him, near Route 2 in Elsmer. She said the police at the scene later called an ambulance, which took her nephew to Nemours Children's Hospital.
“His eye, the orbital bone area, is completely damaged,” Murphy said.
In their statement, the Delaware Department of Justice said Walters dropped his knee onto the back of the 15-year-old’s “neck/head,” causing an injury and causing the teen to “scream in distress.”
A short time later, Walters turned off his body camera and punched the teen in his face, the DOJ said.
The violent encounter occurred after Walters had already led police to nearby Taft Avenue where witnesses said officers physically forced a 17-year-old out of his home and onto the ground, before detaining him and a friend for hours.
In the indictment filed Tuesday, the Department of Justice said the teen was complying with police orders when Walters forcibly pulled him out of his home and “onto the ground, causing injuries.”
The indictment also confirmed that Walters then handcuffed the teen and detained him in a police cruiser.
Chavuan Harris, the mother of the 17 year old, said the heat within the police car was turned up while her son was detained, despite the already-warm August temperatures.
Harris also recounted how police first said they targeted her son because a K9 dog led them to her home. Later, an officer called it “all a misunderstanding,” she said.
“They just came in here, bum rushed him, and didn’t ask questions or nothing,” she said, last month.
While Harris received little information, Walters told at least two of her neighbors that police were in their neighborhood because he had been the victim of a “home invasion.”
He made the comments while going from house to house on Taft Avenue, asking the bewildered neighbors for recent Ring camera video footage that might show individuals who had recently passed along the block.
Earlier that evening, Murphy said, her nephew had been playing the game of ding, dong, ditch in an adjacent neighborhood — a sort of prank that involves teenagers knocking on a door, or ringing a doorbell, then running away before it is answered.
On Tuesday, the DOJ officials appeared to confirm the account, stating Murphy’s nephew (who they call Victim Two) “and his friends decided to play a prank: Victim Two ran up to Walters’ house and, covering his face, kicked the door and ran off.”
The video showed the teen on Walters’ property for only a few seconds. It did now show any home invasion.
For her part, Harris stressed that her son was terrorized by the rampaging police action, even though it was the other boys who were playing the rambunctious game of ding dong ditch.
To read my breaking news report of this incident last month, click here.