Video shows deputy punch teen several times at Milwaukee County Zoo, witnesses speak out
By Yukare Nakayama
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MILWAUKEE COUNTY, Wisconsin (WDJT) — The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a video of a deputy punching a 17-year-old girl.
They said the video didn’t show the whole picture. Witnesses explained how a trip to the zoo took a turn for the worse.
Family identified the teen struck by officers as 17-year-old Envy Hampton.
On the night of Oct. 22, a group of friends including Keviona Brown, Alivia Jee, and Hampton headed to the Milwaukee County Zoo for a fun night out.
“We wanted to go have fun and go home and it was just a problem after that,” said Jee.
According to the Sheriff’s office, deputies were called to the entrance of the Milwaukee County Zoo for a reported fight but did not see one.
Brown and Jee said a verbal disagreement happened within the friend group, but nothing turned physical.
The girls were asked to leave the zoo’s grounds. They then waited for a ride from Hampton’s older sister 26-year-old Nayah Dowell.
Dowell claims she was immediately met with hostility from a deputy. She was then asked to show her I.D. which Dowell declined. She claims she wasn’t told there was a reported possible fight before she showed up.
The teen girls then claimed they climbed over a fence to get into Dowell’s car. Once they got in, that’s when they said things escalated.
“We all look up and you just see officers hopping over gates,” said Brown.
They claim they were surrounded by deputies, one pulled Dowell out of the vehicle. In a video recorded by Brown, you hear Brown screaming and attempting to pull Dowell back into the car.
Moments later Brown said she saw Hampton on the ground being struck by an officer.
“I only record him hitting her three times in the video but before I started the video, he was already striking her,” said Brown.
In a statement, the Sheriff’s department said body and dash cam footage showed the people in the car were not cooperative. They also said Hampton shoved a deputy, kicking at the and swinging her arms, hitting a deputy with a closed fist. The Sheriff’s office said the deputy used force, striking Hampton three times to handcuff the teen and take her into custody.
Friends of the teen claim Hampton swung at police but missed.
Both Hampton and her sister Dowell were arrested that night. Hampton is currently in jail facing charges including Battery of a Law Enforcement officer. Family said her bail set at over $5,000.
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