Watonga officer faces new investigation after violence against autistic teenager

A Watonga police officer who was acquitted in a use-of-force investigation is facing criticism for another incident.

The Blaine County Sheriff's Office asked the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to investigate the officer's use of force against a struggling 15-year-old autistic boy. “He's the reason I get up and fight every day,” Andrea Lambert said of her son, Santiago Garcia.

Lambert said her son is great but struggles with aggressive behavior at times. “Being a parent of an autistic child is very hard sometimes,” she said.

On June 2, Watonga police officers were called to help after her son threatened family members with a knife, according to a police report. “He just needed someone to listen to him,” Lambert said.

Lambert says she has called police several times in the past to deescalate tense situations with her son, but that was not the case in the body camera footage she took of the incident.

“It's not OK,” she said. “I'm sad, sometimes I'm depressed, but I'm also angry and frustrated.”

In the video, she says a Watonga police officer used excessive force to arrest her son.

Video confirmed by the Blaine County Sheriff shows officers first attempting to talk to him. “So, are you ready to put your shoes on and politely walk with us?” the officer asked. Santiago said “No.”

The video then shows the situation escalating, the officers handcuff him and then the officer is seen hitting the screaming teen. The officer is then seen admitting it. “Ma'am, I hate it, but I mean, I just hit him three times,” the officer said. “I didn't just hit him three times with full force, so he got it.”

Lambert said her son was hospitalized for eight days after the incident and is now receiving proper medication. However, the incident has left lasting effects, she said.

“He's even afraid to leave the house,” she said. “The child you see in this video is not my everyday son.”

While Lambert agrees with the officers' actions in the video and even thanks them, after the video visit she disagrees with the way her son was treated.

“I said all of that in a moment of vulnerability to men who I thought were there to help,” she said. “You can't say that an adult who has children can watch another man in uniform do that to a 15-year-old autistic child and say it's OK.”

According to the sheriff, this is the second use of force investigation involving the same officer. The Blaine County District Attorney's Office acquitted the officer in the first case, which involved a father being taken into custody in front of his crying son on July 4. But Lambert is hoping for a different outcome in her son's case.

“I will not stop until I get justice for my son,” she said.

Lambert said she will hold a silent, peaceful protest outside the Blaine County Courthouse at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 31, to protest police brutality and demand justice for her son.

Watonga Police Chief Beth Massey said in a statement Monday: “The officer is on leave. We have no comment on the ongoing investigation. It is being conducted by an outside agency.”