Man Faces Assault Charges After Seen Throwing Boy To The Ground
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - A 46-year-old man from Aurora faces assault charges after cameras caught him tackling a young boy to the ground.
The cellphone video only shows a portion of the altercation between Eric Pappas' 12-year-old sond and a grown man.
"Seeing someone that level of anger, coming at my son, with that size, it was disturbing," Pappas said.
He says his son was reportedly goofing around with a group of friends on their walk home from school.
"A bunch of kids tossing beanies and gloves in the air," Pappas said. "My son says 'Somebody through it in the street and hit a vehicle.' The glove hit the vehicle at which point this gentleman decides to come out of his vehicle," said Pappas.
That is where the video starts. In it, you see the man chasing after Pappas' son.
At first, the group watches. Many of them are heard giggling in the backgaround, but when their friend is thrown to the ground, the laughing stops.
"Just to see it go that far with a 12-year-old I couldn't understand it," Pappas said.
Eventually the man lets the boy go. Parents were later notified after the Arapahoe County Sheriff deputies responded.
Pappas says his son admitted to mouthing off to the man in the video, which may have made the boy a target, but as far as Pappas is concerned, nothing he said warranted the excessive response.
"There was a sidewalk a couple feet to the left of my son. If his head would have hit that we'd be telling a whole different story," Pappas said.
The man faces third degree assault charges while Pappas' son could face a possible misdemeanor for "throwing a missile at a vehicle."
CBS4 tried to speak with the man in the video, but did not get a response.
Karen Morfitt joined the CBS4 team as a reporter in 2013. She covers a variety of stories in and around the Denver metro area. Connect with her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter @karenmorfitt or email her tips.
