3.29.2011

police leave teens locked in van overnight


Over the weekend in Fort Lee, New Jersey, the kids had to go find something else to do after police broke up a rowdy house party. Pretty typical Saturday night, right? Not quite. A group of five teenagers say they were rounded up by cops and left in a van outside police headquarters overnight: Teen says he and others were held overnight in a Fort Lee police van.

According to 17-year-old Adam Kim, while several minors were taken into the police station, he and a group of guys were left inside the police van without supervision, or anything to eat or drink, or even a pot to piss in, for more than 14 hours -- in 20-degree weather:
Adam Kim, a 17-year-old borough resident, said in an e-mail that teens at a house party he attended Friday night were all taken to the police station. But while half of the group of minors was brought into police headquarters, he and several other boys were left in the police van “with no food, or water [with] 20-degree weather, for nearly 14-15 hours,” Kim wrote in an e-mail. “The police forgot about us,” Kim said in the email.
I wonder how long the kids waited until they started losing it. Officials apparently only realized what had happened after a passerby heard screams and banging from the police van. They opened the van to discover the stench of urine and five hungover, freaked out teens. More here: Police Leave Teens Locked in Van For Hours.

At this point, they're refusing to confirm or comment on whether the kids were left in the van... but it definitely sounds like someone screwed up and just plain forgot about them. Three police officers have reportedly been suspended over the incident: Three Fort Lee Police Officers Suspended After Leaving Teens Locked In Police Van For Hours.

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