- Police used excessive force on teen who tried to help them, despite clear differences in appearance
- Officers should have recognized the teen, who had previously interacted with them
- Incident highlights ongoing issues of racial bias and lack of accountability in policing
A Florida mother is demanding accountability after a traumatic case of “mistaken identity” left her teenage son with a broken arm.
According to WESH, Angela Sparks Hansen says her 15-year-old son, Judah Everage, was walking home in Melbourne when police suddenly surrounded him while searching for another missing child. Despite Judah immediately telling officers they had the wrong person, body camera footage reportedly shows officers forcing him to the ground, handcuffing him, and threatening to use a taser. The terrifying encounter ended with Judah suffering a broken arm before officers realized they had detained the wrong teenager. Hansen says her son has been left physically injured and emotionally traumatized, while her family’s attorney argues officers had previously interacted with Judah and should have recognized he wasn’t the juvenile they were looking for. The family is now demanding answers and accountability for what they describe as an unnecessary and excessive use of force.
Why should the officers involved recognized Judah, you ask? Well, first and foremost, the child the police were looking for was white and was described as wearing black clothes. Judah is black and was a white shirt with blue jeans. Second and most importantly, Judah had just tried to help police locate the child prior to being surrounded and harassed.
Everage’s mother Angela Sparks spoke to this very issue when addressing the press.
“We can’t live like this. We can’t live like- we can’t have this. And they have to be held accountable. And this is ridiculous,” she said. “The kid they were looking for is white, and he’s very dark, he’s mixed, you know? He’s brown, and so he’s like, why would they pivot, and like come after me?” Sparks said.
During the frightening encounter, Judah tried to explain that he was not the person in question but instead was ignored and essentially attacked. The pleas were captured on body camera by one of the officers who previously spoke to the teen.
“I know Armani, I can explain. I know his mom. I was just in the car with her. I can explain. You were there.”
In a follow-up report, WESH reported that Melbourne Police Officer William Markle has resigned in the wake of public outrage over the body camera footage. Markle was one of three officers involved in Judah’s detention. Melbourne Police Chief David Gillespie confirmed the resignation but did not indicate whether it was directly tied to an internal investigation. The department has also placed another officer on administrative leave while investigators continue reviewing the encounter.
For many observers, the case has become another troubling example of how quickly routine police encounters can escalate when officers “squeeze first and and ask questions last”. Judah wasn’t accused of committing a crime, yet he walked away from the encounter with a broken arm and life-long emotional scars. While the resignation marks the first visible consequence stemming from the incident, the family’s focus remains on securing meaningful accountability and ensuring that another child doesn’t endure the same undeserved pain.