Autistic Teen Jailed For Officer Assault
The Autism News | English
By Stacey Cohan | My FOX D.C.
Mother Reaches Out Through Blog
STAFFORD, Va. – An 18-year-old autistic man sits in the Rappohannock County Jail and his mother is fighting for his release.
Reginald Latson is charged with assaulting a police officer.
Latson’s mother is on a mission to free her son and has launched an internet campaign that is drawing national interest.
The local NAACP is helping, even though the issue isn’t color of the man’s skin.
From the time he was small, Reginald “Neli” Latson’s mom knew he was different.
She knew from the small things, from teaching a child how to tie his shoes to eating with a spoon, but it took years of frustration and special education to get a hard diagnosis-autism, specifically Aspergers Syndrome.
“That brought me to tears because I realized for the first time…this was my son,” said mom Lisa Alexander.
With help, she says Neli improved.
He often walked to the local library which he loved, but on May 24, someone called police to report a suspicious man with a gun outside the library.
When police arrived, Neli had left but a high school resource officer nearby found him.
What happened next landed Neli in jail.
This is what he told his mom while he was being questioned.
“He said ‘I was attacked, I didn’t mean for this to happen’ then the phone went dead,” said Alexander.
The Stafford sheriff’s office says Neli was violent; the officer used pepper spray. Neli stole it, used it and broke the officers’ ankle.
No gun ever was found.
His mother says she doesn’t know exactly what happened, but she says nearly two months in custody is too long for her autistic son.
“I’m terrified,” said Alexander. “He was in Western State for a while, he’s very confused.
He doesn’t know why all this is happening to him.”
“I was there at the hearing,” said Melvin Allen Sr. of NAACP. “They told him he could not afford an attorney one would be appointed. He couldn’t understand what they meant.”
Shortly after his arrest, the court moved Neli to Western State Mental Hospital which is where a video was made for his mom’s internet campaign to win his freedom.
After the video hit YouTube, Neli was taken out of the hospital and put back in jail.
The Stafford Sheriff’s Office declined an interview but says, “when this case goes to court, it will become abundantly clear that not only did the deputy who was assaulted act in a completely professional an appropriate manner, but all law enforcement involved acted in a professional and appropriate manner.”
According to the national organization ” Autism Speaks ,” conflicts between autistic individuals and law enforcement has become so problematic that there is an education program already underway to training officers to deal with autistic persons.
Source: http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/virginia/autistic-teen-jailed-for-officer-assault-071310
Please share this news with friends, family and also with your contact list on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.
