A white Massachusetts police officer will face prison expenses in reference to an off-duty episode by which she is accused of berating a Black teenager, a buddy of her son, over his assist of the Black Lives Matter motion, a courtroom official dominated this week.
An assistant clerk with the Dedham District Court dominated on Thursday after a possible trigger listening to that prison expenses towards Patricia Lio, an officer with the Milton Police Department, may proceed.
The episode that prompted the costs occurred on Sept. 19, 2020, when Officer Lio’s son had invited two of his associates, one Black and one Hispanic, to his house in Westwood, Mass., to watch a Boston Celtics sport and sleep over, The Boston Globe reported.
Officer Lio is accused of confronting the Black teenager, who’s 14, about his stance on the Black Lives Matter motion, Alfred A. Gray Jr., a lawyer representing {the teenager} and his household, stated in an interview. She can be dealing with allegations that she hit her husband when he tried to intervene within the state of affairs, Mr. Gray stated.
Officer Lio will face expenses of assault to intimidate and assault and battery on a family member, in accordance to courtroom data. She is ready to be arraigned in late May.
The Westwood Police Department has been main the investigation into the matter.
Officer Lio, who joined Milton’s police drive practically 20 years in the past, has been on administrative go away since October, her lawyer, Douglas Louison, stated. The division’s inner investigation into her matter is continuous, he stated, including that Thursday’s choice was “disappointing” for his shopper.
“This incident and the facts around it should just not have given rise to criminal charges,” he stated.
In an announcement, Deputy Chief James O’Neil of the Milton Police Department stated that his division “is very concerned” about Officer Lio’s case.
“While the outcome of the criminal and internal cases is still unknown,’’ he said, “the Milton Police Department has zero tolerance for any bias behavior, domestic violence, or aggressive behavior towards children.”
Risa King, a Boston lawyer and the mom of the Black teenager, stated in an interview that she had acquired a “troubling text followed by a phone call” from her son the night of Sept. 19.
According to Mr. Gray, who’s representing Ms. King and her household, Officer Lio had claimed {the teenager} had posted one thing unfavorable towards law enforcement officials on social media. While the three boys have been watching the Celtics sport, Officer Lio went downstairs and finally began berating {the teenager} about “his stance on Black Lives Matter and her beliefs that his stance on B.L.M. was inappropriate,” Mr. Gray stated.
He stated that {the teenager}, actually, had not written the social media posts in query and “did not express any intent to engage in any violence toward police officers.”
According to testimony at a possible trigger listening to on Tuesday, Officer Lio had requested the opposite teenager, who’s Hispanic, if he believed in Black Lives Matter and likewise referred to him as an immigrant, Mr. Gray stated.
But Mr. Louison, Officer Lio’s lawyer, stated that though the officer had spoken to the Black teenager about a number of the perceptions she felt Black Lives Matter projected onto police, race was “never a component.”
The two teenage associates of Officer Lio’s son have been finally taken house by Officer Lio’s husband, who testified on the listening to that he was not hit by his spouse, Officer Lio’s lawyer stated.
Ms. King referred to as the aftermath of the episode involving her 14-year-old son “one of the worst, most difficult situations we have had to deal with as a family.”
“We just want to see the officer accountable for her outrageous behavior toward the kids,” she stated.
