Originally published 2020-10-24.
In September 2018 a school resource officer in Statesville, North Carolina, held a handcuffed 7-year-old autistic boy face down on the floor of Pressly Alternative School for more than 38 minutes, according to a federal lawsuit filed by the child’s mother in October 2020. Bodycam footage of the restraint became public that autumn, the officer had already resigned, and a state investigation had found no basis for criminal charges. The boy himself was never charged.
The case drew national attention because the video captured something many parents of autistic children fear: a moment of distress at school being handled as a crime rather than as a disability-related crisis. Below is what the record shows, what the lawsuit claims, and what families and schools can take from it.
(The video originally embedded here is no longer available on YouTube.)
What happened at Pressly Alternative School
Court papers identify the boy only by his initials, L.G. He was in second grade, had an autism diagnosis and, according to the complaint, significant impairments in communication and in expressing his emotions. On the day in question, staff reported problems in the classroom, including spitting, and moved him to a so-called quiet room.
The officer called in was Michael Fattaleh, then a Statesville Police Department officer assigned to the school. According to the lawsuit, two staff members were already holding the child when he arrived. The complaint says Fattaleh forced the boy to kneel, handcuffed him, pushed him face down, twisted his arm until he cried and placed a knee on his back. He stayed on the floor until his mother got there.
The footage also captured the officer’s words. The suit quotes him saying “he’s mine now” before cuffing the child, and on the video he warns the boy about the juvenile justice system, adding: “You ever been charged with a crime before? Well, you’re fixing to be.” At one point he can be heard asking whether the child can breathe. The adults in the room do not step in to calm things down.
What the lawsuit claims, and against whom
Some reports at the time said the mother was suing the State of North Carolina. That is not quite right. The complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, names the Iredell-Statesville Board of Education and the City of Statesville. It accuses the officer of an “unreasonable use of force” and of inflicting unnecessary pain, and it argues that he knew the child had special needs and had been told the boy was over-stimulated.
The family says L.G. has since lived with emotional trauma and post-traumatic stress. His mother has said her son was likely overwhelmed by a demanding day and could not regulate himself under that pressure, and that the presence of an angry officer made the situation worse. In local coverage she was quoted asking how anyone could charge a special-needs child with assault.
When NBC News reported the filing, neither the school board nor the city had commented. The officer’s attorney described the encounter as a response to a report involving a student. We could not find a published ruling or settlement in the civil case, so its outcome should be treated as unknown.
Investigation, resignation and why no one was charged
Fattaleh was placed on administrative leave soon after the incident and later resigned from the police department. Statesville’s interim police chief, David Onley, and District Attorney Sarah Kirkman asked the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to review what happened. That review produced no criminal charges, and at the time of the lawsuit there was no active criminal investigation.
The distinction matters. A finding of “no criminal charges” means investigators did not believe a crime could be proven. It is not the same as a finding that the restraint was appropriate, and civil courts apply a different standard when they ask whether force was excessive.
Why face-down restraint of a child is so contested
Prone restraint, holding someone face down, is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous holds because weight on the back can make breathing harder. Many school districts and US states restrict or ban it for that reason, and guidance for schools generally says physical restraint should be a last resort used only when there is an immediate risk of serious harm, for the shortest time possible.
For an autistic child, the setting adds further risks. Meltdowns are usually a response to sensory or emotional overload, not a deliberate act of defiance. Loud commands, physical pressure and threats can intensify that overload. A child who cannot process spoken language well under stress may not understand what is being demanded, which can look like refusal to an adult who does not know the child.
Spitting is unpleasant and staff are entitled to protect themselves. The question raised by this case is proportion: whether a 7-year-old already held by two adults needed handcuffs, a knee on his back and talk of criminal charges for close to 40 minutes.
School resource officers and discipline
School resource officers are sworn police officers placed in schools, usually to deal with safety threats and crime. Critics argue that when officers are drawn into everyday behaviour problems, ordinary misconduct can turn into arrests and court referrals, a pattern often called the school-to-prison pipeline. Disabled students are frequently cited as being restrained and referred to police at higher rates than their classmates.
Supporters of resource officers say they can build trust and respond quickly to real danger. Both sides tend to agree on one thing: officers who work with young children need clear rules about when they should and should not get involved in discipline, and training in de-escalation and disability.
A similar case in Salt Lake City
The Statesville video surfaced only weeks after another case involving police and an autistic boy. On 4 September 2020, Golda Barton called 911 in Salt Lake City and asked for a crisis intervention team because her 13-year-old son, Linden Cameron, was having a meltdown. An officer fired eleven shots, six of which hit the boy as he ran. Some early reports said he had been shot 13 times or more; the official account is eleven shots and six hits.
Linden survived. In September 2022 Salt Lake City agreed to pay the family $3 million to settle their lawsuit, and in August 2023 the district attorney announced that the officer, Matthew Farillas, would not be charged. We covered the shooting in more detail here: 13-year-old autistic boy shot by police in Salt Lake City.
What parents and schools can do
- Ask for the restraint policy in writing. Parents can ask a school which holds are allowed, who is trained to use them and when police are called.
- Use the child’s plan. An individualised education programme or behaviour intervention plan can spell out known triggers, calming strategies and who to contact during a crisis.
- Request records. Many states require schools to document and report every restraint. Families can ask for those reports and any available video.
- Separate safety from discipline. Schools can agree in advance that a resource officer is not called for behaviour linked to a disability unless someone is in real danger.
- Look after the child afterwards. If a child seems frightened, withdrawn or unable to sleep after an incident like this, talk to a doctor or a qualified mental health professional.
The Statesville footage is hard to watch because the child is so small and the response so large. It remains a useful reference point for anyone pushing for safer, better-informed ways of handling a crisis in a classroom.
Sources: NBC News: 7-year-old boy with autism handcuffed, held on floor by school resource officer; Wikipedia: Shooting of Linden Cameron.
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