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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield
What Abducted Teen`s Siblings Say; Nationwide Manhunt Continues; Vicious Attack; Tom Brady Jersey Found; Dramatic Video; Don`t Mess with Mama!; Spring Breaking the Law. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired March 22, 2017 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[20:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wherever she is, if she`s all right...
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HLN HOST (voice-over): The family of the teenager who disappeared with her teacher growing more desperate with every passing day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing that we have learned about him calms any of our fears for her.
BANFIELD: Police stumped that so few tips have helped, this as her sister admits she was worried about that teacher.
SARAH THOMAS, ELIZABETH`S SISTER: He was a weirdo.
BANFIELD: And new claims that kids at school teased Elizabeth after hearing that teacher had kissed her in class.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you, and there are so many people here that need you and want you back.
BANFIELD: A teenager taunts a police officer, but the officer`s response less than professional, all caught on tape.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t know who you think you`re talking to but -- (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
BANFIELD: And what happens next looks downright criminal, pummeling the teen at least 11 times.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Didn`t I not just touch you? Did I not just touch you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You all right?
BANFIELD: A young man and his friend jumped by a gang of teens.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lots of kids just jumped him.
BANFIELD: What`s worse, the kid being attacked autistic, his friend also injured, saying they are just lucky it wasn`t worse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They slammed me to the ground, beat the crap out of me, and my eye`s black. I`m missing a tooth.
BANFIELD: And mystery solved, the play-by-play of Tom Brady`s Super Bowl jersey. See this fellow with the fancy credentials? Does this video show
him making off with the goods?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: Hello, everyone. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.
No matter where you are tonight, from Oregon to Florida, Maine to Arizona, we are all on the same team. It is us against him in the nationwide search
for Tad Cummins, the teacher who ran off with his 15-year-old student.
They could be anywhere by now as the search for Elizabeth Thomas is now nationwide and in its second week. One by one, Elizabeth`s friends and
family are beginning to emerge. They are asking, pleading for Tad Cummins to bring Elizabeth home. The very latest to come forward, her best friend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHLEE RIGGINS, BEST FRIEND: I know that you may love him and think that he`s perfect, but he`s not. I mean, I love you, and there are so many
people here that need you and want you back.
She needs to be able to make her dreams come true, and if she`s with him, then she can`t because she`s going to be running.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: No one has seen Elizabeth since last Monday, but this photograph is believed to be the last image of the girl, captured not long before a
friend dropped her off at a restaurant not far from her home. And these are the clothes it is thought she was last seen wearing.
Investigators have told us of a troubling pattern of behavior by Tad Cummins just before the pair disappeared, including his on-line research
about teen marriage and whether his silver Nissan Rogue could be tracked by law enforcement.
But that behavior is not the strangest thing that we are learning about him. Elizabeth`s big sister, Sarah, has told us that Tad Cummins would
often lie to Elizabeth and others about working for the FBI and the CIA, and that when they were in his classroom, he tried to act more like his
students than a grownup, let alone a teacher.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE GALANOS, HLN ANCHOR: Did you know him at all? Did you have him as a teacher? What you think of him?
SARAH THOMAS, ELIZABETH`S SISTER: Yes. (INAUDIBLE) the class plenty of times when she was in there, and I thought that he tried to act childish,
like a teenager. Like, he didn`t act, like, his age. Like, he acted like a young kid, and that was strange because, I`m, like, there`s something
wrong because no one his age would act like this. It was strange. Like, even when we were listening to music with him, he would start playing music
that young, you know, teenagers listened to, and it was weird.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: HLN anchor Mike Galanos is in Columbia, Tennessee. You just saw him interviewing Elizabeth`s sister.
Mike, thanks for joining us. I want to talk to you a little bit about what else she told us about what was happening in that school in the days
leading up to the Elizabeth`s disappearance, specifically about that kiss, that kiss that was reported between Elizabeth and the teacher and that had
apparently had gone around like wildfire around that school.
[20:05:00]GALANOS: Well, Ashleigh, Let`s stay with Sarah on this. And let me say she`s a brave young woman. And as we spoke, she`s trying to tell
her sister`s story, get the word out there, but the emotions came (INAUDIBLE) We`ll get that in just a moment.
But about this alleged kiss, Sarah, big sister, had to play warrior because she tells the story that there was bullying after that and that her sister,
Elizabeth, told her, I`ve got to get out of here. We`ve got to get out of here.
Sarah tried to stand up for her, to get kids to stop the bullying, brought them into an office. Nothing was done. So there`s an element there. And
Sarah and I went back and forth. She had unique perspective, Ashleigh, not only sister and best friend to Elizabeth, but she also witnessed what was
going on in this classroom.
And as we went back and forth, I asked her, basically, Did you see something wrong here? Was the relationship going too far one way or
another? Here`s that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GALANOS: Did you ever have any idea that she was getting maybe too close to this teacher or he was getting too close to her?
S. THOMAS: I felt like it was kind of weird because when they were in the classroom together, he would pay her to be good. He would, like, give her
20 bucks. And you know, every -- in a few days, he would look at it and say, you know -- he would want her to sit next to him, and you know, if she
was good for a few days, she would get $20. And I thought that was weird. And he would always claim that he seen her as a kid. And I`m, like, I
don`t think that if you seen her as a kid, you would pay her to be good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALANOS: So there you hear it, Ashleigh, the red flags of a big sister. I even asked her, Did you ever feel that she was in danger? No. And even
Elizabeth denied there was any wrongdoing. But again, Sarah just -- things just didn`t feel right to her.
BANFIELD: $20 to be good for a couple of days. It only makes you wonder, now that we know what the circumstances are, what it meant to be good.
There is also a story in "People" magazine, I was hoping you could touch on it, Mike. They`re reporting it was also known that Mr. Cummins gave
Sarah -- or gave Elizabeth a microwave oven to keep at the school? I`m a little confused about this gift and the purpose of it and what it would be
used for.
GALANOS: Well, it dovetails with what Sarah is saying, and that she told us that story. $20 to be good, and you asked the right question. I said,
What does that mean? Also, Tad Cummins (sic) tells "People" magazine the thing he extrapolates from this is a dependence, that Tad Cummins was
building a dependence, that she was dependent on him, microwave ovens she`d come in to have warm food, doing her own homework, is what we`re gathering,
get her out of trouble, all revolving around dependence there.
And even Dad, Anthony Thomas -- you know, he has seen that, as well, talking about his daughter had all kinds of confidence coming into this
school year, but then all of a sudden, the confidence was going away. You can look at her Instagram postings. She talked about being ugly. But who
made her feel better? Tad Cummins.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
S. THOMAS: Sometimes a few things, like just putting my emotions out because, like, a few things just trigger me to get upset because I`m
thinking about, and I`m, like, Well she liked doing this, and she liked doing that and she`s not here! She`s, like -- she has always been into,
you know, these horror movies and stuff. And the other day, me and my fiance, we went and got a game that she always wanted to play and how we
were going to play it together. And I got it, and I`m, like, so when she comes back, this is something we`ll do. We`ll do this and we`ll play this
and we`ll finish it together (ph).
GALANOS: You look forward to that, huh?
S. THOMAS: Yes.
GALANOS: What`s an encouraging word you`d like to tell her?
S. THOMAS: To not give up hope, and please try to come home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALANOS: Ashleigh, as I mentioned, I mean, Sarah, such a sweet, strong personality trying to tell her sister`s story. But as we talked and she
talked about the closeness they shared -- and you can see in her mind`s eye she`s reliving the times, the good times of being with her sister, and she
wants them back.
Right at the end there -- that was the end of the interview, and the emotions came. And she`s hugging her brother and her brother`s trying to
console her. And I could hear her through the tears just say, I don`t want to get used to life without her. I want them to find her. And you could
feel the gravity of the moment. It was just so heart-breaking.
BANFIELD: I want to go back to some of the facts in the case that have been, you know, sort of eking (ph) out moment by moment as they`re putting
a timeline together of what happened before this pair disappeared. And it is very, very curious indeed. We`ll all heard about this purported kiss
that was witnessed by a student in a classroom between Tad Cummins and Elizabeth.
[20:10:00]But now we`re learning that that student saw the kiss, bolted and told another student, and that the two of them confronted that teacher,
confronted him about the kiss, after which he is, according to the school, alleged to have said, I calm her. She needs me. She comes from an abusive
home, and I can help her through these things.
So to that end, it got us asking questions, looking up documents. There is an abuse allegation. Her mother has been charged with five separate counts
of child abuse. It has not yet been adjudicated, Mike. But it involves five separate children, including Elizabeth herself. And I wanted you to
just go over some of the facts about the abuse case and what we know.
GALANOS: All right. So those allegations come from November of 2014 to November of 2015. You mentioned it, five counts, four misdemeanor counts
of child abuse and neglect, one felony count because one of the children was under 8 at the time.
But specifically, what are the allegations? What could have happened to Elizabeth here? Here are the allegations, Ashleigh, that she was told to
get naked in front of several people, that at the orders of her mother. Also, she was beaten by her mom until she was bleeding. Spring of 2015,
allegedly, her mom bangs her head into the washing machine. Another alleged incident, that Elizabeth was thrown down the basement stairs by
Mom, and locked down there.
Other allegations concerning the other children, also to undress. One of the children was knocked cold, allegedly, by a wooden board. And the
little one, under 8 at the time, accidentally injected herself with an Epipen, and then got a shot to the head for that, just some horrific
allegations there. Trial pending as Mom ended up bonding out in 2016.
BANFIELD: All right, Mike, hold on for one minute -- great work getting the interview with big sister Sarah, really sheds a lot more light on what
was going on prior to the disappearance. Stand by for a moment.
I want to bring in James Goodnow and Christine Grillo, our attorneys who are working through this case. Every day that I hear something new, I keep
wondering if the charges are loading up. What happens as days go on? Does it get more egregious? Is he in more trouble with every passing day and
every passing discovery?
CHRISTINE GRILLO, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Just the information that you`ve been provided now, he was clearly picking his target. He was clearly finding a
young woman who needed some assurance, who came from an abusive home, which he was privy to that information as the school teacher.
One needs to really examine why the school took this evidence of this abuse, and as an abused child, there`s proper protocol to go through.
Clearly, they weren`t doing that. And he was privy to that information and took it and preyed on this young girl and her needs.
BANFIELD: And the biggest concern here is that, you know, everyone in the country sort of needs to open up their eyes and really help here because
there are very few clues that are turning out to be credible. It`s thought that they are deep underground. And the problem with that is that the tips
aren`t helping right now. The only thing that`s going to help is if people can really take a look at campgrounds and parking lots, and obviously,
whether it`s that car or that clothing that ends up surfacing.
But I think the big question here is there`s no issue for Elizabeth Thomas. She`s 15. She can`t possibly be in any trouble. And yet we don`t know if
she knows that.
JAMES GOODNOW, LEGAL ANALYST: No, we don`t. What we do know, of course, is that Tad Cummins has exploited this relationship. He took advantage of
the position of power he was in as a teacher and really preyed on her, as we just heard here. And it`s frightening to think, as we develop this
psychological profile of this man, what could be happening. We only hope that people watching here will give credible tips that will help us.
BANFIELD: If she`s involved in any kind of crime on the run with this man, does she get a break because of the circumstance she`s in? She`s 15.
GOODNOW: Absolutely! Absolutely here. This is not a person who is able to consent or to form the intent necessary for a crime. This is a victim
we`re dealing with right now. This is...
BANFIELD: Yes. And she will be treated as such no matter what happens when she comes home.
GOODNOW: Yes.
BANFIELD: If she comes (INAUDIBLE)
GOODNOW: Absolutely.
BANFIELD: OK. I think that`s critical for -- Elizabeth, if you are anywhere where you can hear this, people want you to know that you may not
know you are a victim, but you are a victim, and you are not in trouble. And it is critical that you get home because you could very well be in
trouble by the person that you are with.
Stand by, everyone, if you will. We`ve heard about Elizabeth`s relationship with Tad Cummins, that teacher at her school, but apparently,
she also had a relationship with him and his family at church. Straight ahead, we`re going to ask Elizabeth`s older brother, James, who is joining
us now live, just how familiar Elizabeth was with Tad Cummins and his wife, Jill, and their family and how much time she spent with them. That
question coming up in just seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:16:44]BANFIELD: As the manhunt for Elizabeth Thomas enters its second week, we learned today that her mother was charged with five counts of
child abuse or neglect last November -- still pending, too. Straight ahead, we`re going to ask Elizabeth`s older brother, James, what he knows
about those allegations because they do involve Elizabeth.
And then I`m going to take you to Illinois. There was a cop on the job there looking for a suspect, and things did not quite go as planned. He
ended up with an epic fight with a teenager, a teenager that had nothing to do with why the police were actually called to the scene. And did it end
up spinning out of control? You bet!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, you watch what you say. You watch what you say. You watch what you say, kid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t know who you think you`re talking to, but first of all, you don`t talk to me like that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Well, now that officer is facing something pretty serious because of this. That is a teenager he`s drilling on camera, right there,
looking right into his pal`s bodycam and still keeps going.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:20:06]BANFIELD: For the past 10 days, a family has been waiting by the cellphone on the edge of their seats, desperate for any word about their
daughter, 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas. Investigators say she disappeared with her former teacher, Tad Cummins, a married father and grandfather who
just happens to be more than three times here age. And since they believe he could bee armed, they are very worried that he could, in fact, hurt her.
James Thomas is Elizabeth`s older brother, and he`s with Jason Whatley, the attorney for the Thomas family. They both join me live from Columbia,
Tennessee. Thank you so much, both of us, for being with me tonight.
James, if I could ask you, before we went to break, I mentioned that Tad Cummins`s wife, Jill, who`s been very forthcoming to the police, has made a
public plea for her husband to come home. It turns out she also worked at the school. She worked in the front office at the school, and she worked
there at the time of this alleged kissing incident.
And so I`m very curious to know about Elizabeth`s relationship with the Cummins family, given that she had gone to church with them regularly. She
knew Jill. And yet they were all in the same school together. What do you know about it?
JAMES THOMAS, ELIZABETH`S BROTHER: I mean, whenever I spoke to Elizabeth, she never -- she never brought up Cummins, Mr. Cummins. She never -- she
never told me anything about him. So I was quite surprised to hear about the allegations.
I knew that their family -- I believe his wife is what I was told brought him -- or brought her from -- Elizabeth home from church once or twice,
whenever she went there. But she only went there a little more than a handful of times.
BANFIELD: So nothing seemed out of the ordinary, James? It didn`t seem anything other than an innocent trip to church with a teacher and his wife?
J. THOMAS: Well, we -- growing up here, we would go to friends` churches all the time. We would go to different people`s churches, and then we`d be
brought home by other people in the community, friends, people that lived down the road that we may have known. It was commonplace. I went to
church several times with my neighbor growing up, and that was...
BANFIELD: So not so out of the ordinary? I can understand that.
J. THOMAS: Yes.
BANFIELD: Can I ask you about the alleged kissing incident? You know, your dad has told "People" magazine that he confronted Elizabeth about this
alleged kiss between Tad Cummins and Elizabeth, seen by students in the school, and that Elizabeth denied it.
Did she seem to you at any point like she was changing, that something was different about her, that something about her around the time of this
incident just wasn`t normal?
J. THOMAS: It seemed she`d say things that were a little off. Like, she told one of my sisters that if they didn`t have airsoft (ph) play day
before Monday, she wouldn`t be able to go. And even though they said -- we talked to -- we`ll talk to Dad and make sure you can still go. And she`s,
like, No, you don`t understand. I won`t be allowed to go. And that -- that`s kind of thing seems very concerning, looking back. But at the time,
it seemed odd but not, like -- we didn`t have a full grasp of what she meant.
BANFIELD: So are you saying, James, that she was saying things to you and family members about making a plan and not being able to do anything past a
certain date, specifically the Monday that she disappeared?
J. THOMAS: That`s what she told my sisters. She never spoke to me about it, and I actually only learned of it recently.
BANFIELD: Did she say anything else, any other specific kind of plan that would connote that Monday was a day where afterwards, she couldn`t make a
plan?
J. THOMAS: Not to me.
BANFIELD: Did she have a bank account or a debit card or any of her own money?
J. THOMAS: She had a part-time job that she worked. So she did have some of her own money, but I don`t believe she had too much of it.
BANFIELD: And where would she keep it? Did she have an account? Or where would she keep her money?
[20:25:00]J. THOMAS: I`m not sure. I never asked about finances. Whenever I was younger, I always kept mine cash. So I...
BANFIELD: And you don`t -- you don`t know if any of her money is missing. Meaning -- I guess where I`m going with this is, did you get any evidence,
have you and your family talked about there is a cache of money that she has taken with her, which would give us an idea that she knew she was going
somewhere and had a plan and needed it?
J. THOMAS: No. I`m unsure if she took any money with her personally. I do know they`ve -- well, I don`t believe she`s taken anything with her that
I know of.
BANFIELD: What about personal goods? I mean, a 15-year-old girl -- you know, I was one. I would not have gone more than a few hours without some
of the most special things I thought were critical to my life. Did she take anything out of her room? Did she pack a bag, which would give us an
idea that she knew she might be gone for more than just a few hours or days?
J. THOMAS: I think even in that last photo that we have of her from the surveillance tapes, it`s showing her carrying clothes or a bag of
belongings. So I mean, we do know she took stuff with her. I don`t think she took anything more than just clothes that we know of. We don`t know
anything, like, super out of the ordinary that she may have taken.
BANFIELD: Had she ever mentioned marriage? And it may not have seemed odd. I know that at least two of your sisters that were married at a very
young age, I think somewhere around 17. One of the sisters, Sarah, mentioned she had a fiance. She`s 17. Did Elizabeth at 15 ever talk about
marriage or falling in love or making plans?
J. THOMAS: She talked about love as much as any teenage girl did. She had boyfriends. She did -- I know she had on her Instagram "wife," which is
very concerning.
BANFIELD: Did you see that for sure? Did you actually see her Instagram with "wife" and the ring emoji?
J. THOMAS: Yes, I did, and that concerns...
BANFIELD: You did witness that.
J. THOMAS: ... me greatly. Yes.
BANFIELD: When did she change that? When did she actually change that status?
J. THOMAS: I couldn`t tell you because I`ve never used Instagram. I was only shown her account recently. I don`t really use social media.
BANFIELD: So just to be clear, I want to make sure I understand, James. You did see it on her Instagram, you saw the status change?
J. THOMAS: Yes, I saw it with my -- yes, I did see it. I saw her Instagram page...
BANFIELD: OK.
J. THOMAS: ... with my own eyes.
BANFIELD: You know, I have a personal question. You`re her big brother. This has got to be just wrenching for your father, for your sisters, for
your entire family. And there is all this discussion of family abuse. What do you know about what Elizabeth went through with regard to the abuse
allegations in the home?
J. THOMAS: I don`t know much more than you`ve already reported on. I was away at college whenever the alleged abuse occurred, and I know my father
was at work at the time that they stated they -- that it occurred, as well.
BANFIELD: And this is the picture of your mother, Kimberly...
J. THOMAS: So neither one of us knew about it, and we were...
BANFIELD: Kimberly Thomas -- I apologize interrupting -- who is facing these five counts. Is your mother involved in what`s happening right now?
Are you communicating with her about Elizabeth`s disappearance?
J. THOMAS: I`ve been focusing on the younger ones and my father, trying to -- and most of my time has gone to trying to aid in the search as much as I
can, whether that be through talking to the media or talking to the police. So I haven`t spoken to her at length about the subject, no.
BANFIELD: Understandable.
Jason Whatley, if I could just turn to you for a moment. There is just so much that we`re learning. And I`m wondering, you know, as an attorney
representing this family, are you being informed on a regular basis of the developments in this case, of what police are being able to track down?
Are they keeping you in the dark? Where does this stand? Where does this case stand from the perspective of the family?
JASON WHATLEY, THOMAS FAMILY ATTORNEY: Ashleigh, I don`t -- I don`t want to say anything negative about law enforcement. However, I don`t think
we`re being kept informed in the sense of every clue, every lead that they have. I think there are some reasons why law enforcement would keep those
things to themselves before they would release them and risk them going public and thus tipping off Tad Cummins.
[20:30:00] So we have been reasonably informed by law enforcement, and at this juncture we don`t have any complaints at all. And frankly, law
enforcement has been extremely helpful and -- and sympathetic in the process.
BANFIELD: Well, I wish you and you know -- and all of the Thomas family luck in -- in how this ends up being resolved. Jason (ph), thank you for
being with us. And James (ph), good luck to you and your family. Our thoughts are with all of you. Stay strong. And we will continue to follow
this story. Thank you for being with us tonight.
WHATLEY: Thank you.
J. THOMAS: Thank you.
BANFIELD: I want to show you some disturbing video that has emerged from Richmond, Virginia showing a group of teenagers
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Beating and stomping and kicking a young man, reportedly an autistic man, as he and a female friend were just out on a walk home from a
grocery store. This incident was caught on surveillance video. The friend says that they had taken a detour because they were worried about this
group. But then that group chased them down. And that the attack came out of nowhere. They had no idea who they were. Police are also investigating
this. So far, they have no arrest and are asking for the public`s help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: And then do you remember this particular moment?
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did someone took my jersey?
BANFIELD: Yeah, someone took his jersey, all right. This footage was captured by Yahoo! Sports of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady
last month in the locker room after the Super Bowl win against the Atlanta Falcons. And it is the moment that he discovered his game-winning jersey
was not there.
But on Monday, it was announced the jersey had been found and it was found in Mexico. It had been in the possession of a member of the media. Yes!
Credentialed member. And now we just obtained video from FS1 of the locker room scene after the game and it shows the person authorities have accused
stealing that jersey.
If you noticed the spot shadow, it`s the man wearing the suit and glasses. And there are the credentials. Actually walked right into the locker room
right behind the head coach, Bill Belichick. More notably, video of the man checking to look behind him too as he walks out, just over 10 minutes later
based on the time stamps in the video. You can see it clear as day.
The authorities in Teas say charges will probably be brought, and we`ll have a lot more to learn as we continue to get the details from the cops.
But let`s not forget
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: This is now officially an international incident, not quite as easy as it is that it just happened here.
A police officer responds to a disturbance call and then ends up in what can only be called as a bizarre fight with a teenager. The video of the
altercation is all captured and it`s making some pretty serious headlines.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s good. He`s good. Don`t do it. Don`t do it.
BANFIELD: That is a teenager getting pummeled over and over, at least 11 times. We`ll tell you what happened before this. And although it`s really
hard for us to play the audio because it is riddled with expletives on both sides, you`re going to be absolutely stunned on what the police officer was
doing before this beat down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re scared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: If you ever had an argument with a teenager, you know it can go two ways. It can spin out of control or you can shake your head and you can
just mutter, one of these days he`s gonna get it. But this weekend in Springfield, Illinois, an argument went the first route. And it was epic.
It involved a 19-year-old kid and a uniformed police officer.
Unless you think the kid was way off base, he was, the officer was no shining example either. But hey, since they just released the body cam
video, yes, there was videotape. You can be the judge of this. He is what happened when Officer Samuel Rosario responded to a domestic disturbance
call.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What`s going on, ma`am?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, my daughter, she just like flipped out a while ago, about a money deal. I was -- I owe her like 40 bucks (inaudible). She
started flipping out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s criminal damage. That`s domestic. Come on, she`s at least getting two charges. If you don`t give her both charges, I want
both your badges.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First of all, you`re not a police officer, right? Did you go to law school? Did you go to police officer school? Do you have a
badge? Did you go to the academy? So do you know the charges or law? So you went to court once or twice and so it was like now you know law. So you
went to court once or twice and so now you know law. Don`t tell me how to do my job. I just (beep) got here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: That argument between Officer Rosario and a teenager lasted more than 10 minutes. If you think it couldn`t get worse than what you just saw,
it did.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, you watch what you say. You watch what you say. You watch what you say, kid. I don`t know who you think you`re talking to, but
(beep) you don`t to me like that. Do you understand that? I`m here to help you. I`m here to help you. And all of a sudden, before I even got here,
you`re like (beep) gonna do. I just got here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re a rookie bitch.
[20:40:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s police brutality.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Is it? No, no, no. It`s a close call. But you know what? You`re about to see what really is, may be considered by some to be police
brutality because the altercation didn`t end there. It got super, duper physical.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m done with you, dude. If you don`t shut up, I`m going to (beep).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I ain`t talking to you anymore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did I not just touch you? Didn`t I just touch you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s good. He`s good. Don`t do it. Don`t do it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands behind your back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s good. Don`t do it. Don`t do it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don`t arrest him. Don`t arrest him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See, I thought it was going to be a one-on-one. What the (beep) was this?
BANFIELD: Another officer not involved in the fight reported Officer Rosario`s actions to the supervisor who had a state police investigation
launched. It has now ended with Rosario being suspended from the force and charged with battery and official misconduct. Randy Sutton is a retired
police lieutenant and the national spokesperson for Blue Lives Matter. He joins me from Las Vegas. Randy, thanks for being with me.
No one denies that being a police officer is not an easy job. You get everything. You get the "P" word , you get the "N" word, you get the "B"
word, you get whatever word acronym you want to throw at them. A lot of them comes from young people. But you learn that in training, don`t you?
You don`t take the bait, do you?
RANDY SUTTON, RETIRED POLICE LIEUTENANT, NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON FOR BLUE LIVES MATTER: No you don`t. I watched every bit of this videotape. It was
pretty disturbing. There was a lot of mistakes made here. There was -- there was unfortunately an escalation that didn`t have to happen. The
officer was doing a really good job of handling the domestic situation. He was dealing with the mother of the teen girl. And that was going fine.
And then when this young man got involved in it, the officer -- the officer unfortunately went -- went way over the line and he tried to -- he handled
things the way -- the way we used to handle things in the 1970s where you take off your badge and your gun and go toe to toe with somebody.
BANFIELD: You know, I would also say, not to say -- listen, the reason that the 1970s were handled like that is the reason that we have much of a
problem as we have right now with the accusations against police officers.
SUTTON: Yeah.
BANFIELD: And a guy like that doesn`t help. And I also -- I couldn`t play all 10 minutes of this argument. But Dan, he constantly goaded this kid,
saying you are scared, come out at me, throw down, let`s go. The cop is goading a kid which can`t be part of procedure. Hold your thought for a
minute. Dan Fultz is the attorney for Officer Samuel Rosario. He`s with me as well. Listen, Dan, you`re in an uphill climb, my friend. I watched that
whole tape too. And I don`t care how bratty that kid was, your client cannot be considered to be in the right here.
DAN FULTZ, ATTORNEY FOR OFFICER SAMUEL ROSARIO: I wouldn`t say that Officer Rosario or myself would say this was the best example of community
policing. Obviously, we understand some mistakes were made and he`s been charged and we`ll go through the process and see where we end up.
BANFIELD: So the process -- I`m just gonna cut you off for a minute because I am very curious about that process. Facing battery, two counts of it, and
official misconduct is nothing to sneeze at. So when I come back from the break, I`m going to ask you if the only hope for your client here is to get
on his knees, put his hands together, and pray to the judge for a plea deal. I`m gonna ask you that question on the other side of the break.
[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Police in Illinois released body cam video this week of an all- out throw down between an officer and a teen, teenager. Resulting in the officer being charged with battery and misconduct. Here is a quick
refresher.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dude, I`m done with you, dude. If you ain`t going to put your hands (beep). If you ain`t going to (beep). Did I not just touch you?
Did I not just touch you? Huh?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s good. He`s good. He`s good. Don`t do it. Don`t do it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you all right? Put your hands behind your back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s good. Don`t do it. Don`t do it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don`t arrest him. Don`t arrest him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See, I thought it was going ton a one-on-one. What the (beep) was this?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Dan Fultz is the attorney for Officer Samuel Rosa. And Dan, I asked you before the break, given the video and given what we`ve seen play
out, a plea deal is your client`s only hope, is it?
[20:50:00] FULTZ: Well, you know, in every state, there is a process we have to go through. He is charged with a felony. The official misconduct is
a felony in Illinois. We`re ways away from trying to reach any kind of agreement or deciding whether to go to trial. It may very well be at the
appropriate time. Officer Rosario may make an apology. I don`t think he`s proud of his actions. As I told people a number of times in the last couple
of days, no one should be judged by the worst moment of their life. And if a mistake was made, then we will make (inaudible).
BANFIELD: So I`m glad you said that because I watched this tape and I thought that officer is appalling, and then I learned a little bit about
his background. And while I can`t stand what I`m seeing on television right now, this man did serve in Afghanistan. This man served in Iraq. He PTSD
from his services to this country. He has a clean track record.
I think all of those things do work themselves in any kind of (inaudible). But I`m still curious about what he was doing because on the tape, the last
thing after the beat down, he tells his partner, don`t arrest him, don`t arrest him. Almost like he is trying to teach the teenager a lesson and
thinks he may have done the job.
FULTZ: I think what he was doing was making sure that the officer understood that he had invited the physical engagement and he didn`t want
the young man to be arrested for something that could be perceived as the officer having initiated it. So he at several points if you watch the
entire tape, which I know you have, there are several points where he tries to go back to doing his job and figuring out what happened on the domestic
disturbance and the young man just continues to interrupt him. And at some point.
BANFIELD: My kids do too. I`ve got to be honest. You know, Dan, my kids interrupt me all the time and I go crazy. But you know, he`s a teenager,
and he`s a cop. I know you know. I know everybody whose watching knows what the right thing and the wrong thing is. We all know that teenagers are
jerks sometimes, a lot of times, and mouthy ones like this are even even worst.
But this is pretty bad stuff. If he feels the way he does, if what I -- if I am to believe what you say, and no one is to be judged at the worst time
of their lives, has he gone and made a formal apology to this teenager and the family members as well over what`s happened?
FULTZ: Well, as you know, with regard to making any kind of an apology, it could be seen as admission in a criminal case, so on advice of counsel we
would not never allow him to do that until the appropriate time.
BANFIELD: I understand that too. I have heard it many times. Like I said before, uphill battle. And I do appreciate you for coming on, Dan, and do
the right thing and that`s defend your client. Got a constitutional right to do that in this country and people like you do it well. Thank you, sir.
Dan Fultz joining us. That`s a tough case. That`s a tough one.
This is a life lesson to any would be bad guy, do not mess with this mama grizzly who is trying to protect her kids because she is armed with a
shotgun and not afraid to use it.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Screaming and crying hysterically because they were afraid of either, you know, anything happening.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What stopped you from killing this guy?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All my kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: A would-be home invader in Florida got a whole lot more than he bargained for when he allegedly busted into the Miami Gardens home. And he
was being videotaped. You know, that whole caught on camera thing.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: You can see him here, the suspect getting out of a car, walking up to the front door. Looks he`s knocking, but he`s not. He`s peeping in to
see if anyone is there and then he just starts banging into it. Trying to check the locks and just starts smashing with all his might into that door.
And he does it. He busts in. Bolder and bolder. Until he gets in. But came face-to-face with a shotgun in there. Homeowner mom armed, not afraid.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of a sudden, I hear some banging noise. I thought it was maybe my dreams or something. He was running for his life. And he
kept looking back making sure I wasn`t just gonna shoot him in the back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What stopped you from killing this guy?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All my kids.
BANFIELD: That`s right. She was in her house with her 10-year-old daughter, her 3-year-old son. If you look to the right hand side of the screen, you
can actually see the barrel of the shotgun sticking from the front door. She actually chased him to that point. Police reportedly still looking for
this guy and they want you to know as well that that really pretty much Mercedes, he drove that lovely silver Mercedes, stolen, later recovered in
Miami. What a jerk. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: I got to show you this picture from Destin (ph), Florida. The sheriff put it on the Facebook page there. This was a 19-year-old kid`s
truck on the way to spring break with 210 beers in the back and apparently some dope in the center console going 90 (ph). Christine (ph), one quick
comment about spring breakers who do this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, I want to know where he was going. It must have been heck of a party. He was in a super rush to get there and didn`t
care what happen to him on the way down.
BANFIELD: He didn`t get there, James (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, he didn`t, yeah. For those watching, don`t do that.
BANFIELD: And don`t alter your driver`s license to say you`re 24 because it can screw you later. James, thank you. Christine, thank you. Great to see
you both. Thank you, everyone, for watching. We`ll be back here tomorrow night at 8:00 for PRIMETIME JUSTICE. Stay tuned. "FORENSIC FILES" starts
right now.
[21:00:00]
END
