Father speaks out after teen daughter suffering panic attack handcuffed by White Plains police

Tuesday, January 23, 2024
WHITE PLAINS, New York (WABC) -- A father is raising questions about how police in White Plains handled a situation involving his teenage daughter, who suffered a fractured foot after calling them for help during a panic attack.

The victim's father, Clifton Moody, captured footage of his 13-year-old daughter in handcuffs and surrounded by police officers when he arrived at the scene.
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"You come there, and you see your daughter on the floor, she was crying out help, screaming on the phone and stuff like that," Moody said.

It happened in the lobby of the girl's building on Martin Luther King Boulevard Saturday afternoon.

The 13-year-old had called the police herself, stating she was having a panic attack and needed help.

Moody says his daughter has anxiety issues and has tried to harm herself in the past. There was a similar call to police on Christmas Eve. When officers responded on Saturday, she ran.



"When she saw a cop that was there it kind of triggered her and she didn't want to talk, so she went the other way," Moody said.
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Police say the girl was handcuffed for her and the officers' safety. The teen was not taken into custody and was released to her father, who says she suffered a fractured foot during the incident. Moody says he believes the officers were too aggressive.

"There's no reason for a 13-year-old to be coming back with a fractured foot like that, or fractured anything when you're 13, especially when you've got two adult cops on the scene, they should be able to handle that," Moody said.



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