Hagerstown police released the footage from Sunday’s incident on Wednesday.
"Get off of me, stop touching me!" she screamed, to which an officer responded, "I'm not going to stop touching you, because you wanted to leave."
She was then handcuffed and carried to the police cruiser. The young girl was sprayed with the extremely painful substance because she refused to put her feet inside the vehicle so that the officer could close the door.
The girl screamed and coughed as the vehicle began to move.
“At that point, as would be even with an adult, if you’re refusing to give us information on a traffic situation, at that point you can be arrested until we determine who you are,” Hagerstown Police Capt Paul Kifer told WTOP.
A lawyer retained by the girl’s mother maintained that she was mistreated by police.
“This little girl, 5 ft., 105 lbs. was brutalized by Hagerstown police after she, on her bike, was hit by a car, but refused medical treatment. They slammed her against a wall, arrested her to the police station instead of the hospital!” Maryland attorney Robin Ficker, retained by the girl’s mother, posted on Facebook along with the video.
"Officers throughout this country and our community are often placed in very difficult situations each and every day," Hagerstown Police Chief Victor Brito said at a press conference on Thursday. "It's their job to act in the interest of our community.”
Brito said that the officers "applied their training and responded within the guidelines of the Hagerstown Police Department."
"The officers used the appropriate amount of force to detain a juvenile who was not being cooperative," Brito said. "Sometimes the actions that we take aren't pretty," Brito said. "Sometimes they can look a little ugly. But, they follow policy, pattern and procedure for the Hagerstown Police Department."
After her father picked her up from the police station, the girl was taken to the hospital for soreness, though she was quickly released with minor injuries.
"I think the soreness is not caused by the car so much as it was caused by the police," Ficker told the Associated Press. He also stated that she has been unable to participate in soccer and wrestling practice.
