ORLANDO – Newly released body camera footage shows a 6-year-old girl’s arrest at her elementary school in Orlando, Florida on Sept 19, 2019.
Kaia Rolle’s arrest gained national attention at the time and the arresting officer Dennis Turner was eventually fired, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Kaia was accused of kicking and punching three staff members while having a tantrum at Lucious & Emma Nixon Academy, a charter school.
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The body camera footage, released by Kaia’s family’s attorney, shows Kaia crying, begging to be let go and telling the officer “no, don’t put handcuffs on.”
Turner walks her to a police cruiser outside the school and heads back inside where a staff member asks if the restraints put on Kaia are necessary.
Turner responds saying “yes, and if she was bigger she would be wearing regular handcuffs.”
Turner also arrested another 6-year-old at the same school on the same day for misdemeanor battery in an unrelated incident, according to the Sentinel.
WSLS reported that a staff member “was quoted as being one of the people hit and says in the report she wants to press charges and testify in court against the child.”
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There is no minimum age for arrest in Florida, however, officials with Orlando Police Department told the Sentinel that “Turner violated agency policy on arresting children younger than 12, which requires officers to get a supervisor’s approval - something Turner did not do.”
Kaia’s mugshot and fingerprints were taken at the Juvenile Assessment Center following her arrest, the Sentinel reported.