St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter is calling for an internal affairs investigation into the arrest of a 13-year-old girl captured on video.

“This video is deeply disturbing to watch,” Carter said in a Wednesday evening press release, adding that he asked Police Chief Todd Axtell to launch an investigation “into the circumstances surrounding this arrest as soon as possible.”

Helen Dillman, who witnessed the altercation last week in a Midway store, said she didn’t expect police “to react so aggressively that immediately” and she began video recording on her phone when she saw what she described as the officer escalating the situation.

A police spokesman, Steve Linders, said earlier Wednesday that he knows it can be difficult to watch an arrest of a person “who’s physically resisting.”

“It’s unfortunate that she ran from the officer, resisted arrest and that she continues to go back to the BP gas station where there have been … robberies and a murder,” Linders said. “We are hopeful that this problem can be rectified through the criminal justice system.”

UPDATE: St. Paul mayor says he’s disheartened to see judgment of officers, teen after arrest video

The Midway BP station at 1347 W. University Ave., where an officer initially tried to stop the girl, has been labeled by police and city inspectors as a magnet for trouble, and the city is moving to close the business.

OFFICER INITIALLY TRIED TO STOP GIRL FROM TRESPASSING

Dillman, who was a sales associate at the UPS Store at University and Hamline avenues, posted the video on Facebook on Friday, the day after the arrest at the store.

After local civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong shared Dillman’s post Tuesday night, it was racking up the views — it surpassed 11,000, but was no longer publicly posted on Facebook as of Wednesday evening. Dillman later gave the Pioneer Press permission to post the video.

Levy Armstrong wrote about the video: “This is absolutely disgusting treatment of an 11 year old Black girl at the hands of two white male St. Paul police officers. Why was all of this manhandling of a young girl necessary? This child is not property. I am appalled.”

Dillman said the girl told her she was 11 when she came in the store. A police report indicated she is 13.

It started at 6:35 p.m. Thursday, when officer Graham saw the girl in the parking lot of the BP gas station.

“He knew from previous experience with the female that she has been (banned) from the property until August 2020 because she had been a chronic problem at that location,” Linders said.

The teen previously was arrested on suspicion of assault, disorderly conduct, theft from person, auto theft, fleeing police on foot and obstructing legal process, Linders said. He didn’t have information about whether the incidents happened at the gas station or elsewhere. Related Articles Minneapolis man pleads guilty to torching University Avenue business during May unrest

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Graham approached the teen on Thursday and she ran onto a light-rail platform; the officer didn’t follow because he feared she might jump onto the tracks, Linders said.

Soon after, Graham responded to a call reporting four juveniles trying to open vehicle doors in the parking lot of T.J. Maxx and LA Fitness. He saw people who matched the descriptions enter the UPS Store, Linders said.

WITNESS SAYS GIRL WAS SCARED

Dillman said the girl came in the store about eight minutes before her friends did and they were followed by police. The girl told Dillman and her co-worker, Soraya Dorvilier, she was scared.

“She was saying the police are trying to get me” and she hid behind a small table, Dillman said.

When Graham entered the store, he looked down, saw the girl and said, “Oh, there you are,” according to Dillman. She said the girl was only sitting there, but Graham shoved her to the ground while holding pepper spray before she started video recording.

Graham wrote in a police report that he told the teen she was under arrest and to lie on her stomach, but she started screaming, spun around and tried to kick him, according to Linders said. He did not use the pepper spray, the police department said.

“In response to her unprovoked aggression and in an effort to prevent the situation from escalating, the officer attempted to gain control of her and she continued to fight with him,” Linders said.

Other officers assisted, including one who is seen on video briefly putting his knee on the girl’s upper body.

After the officers handcuffed the girl and tried to get her to her feet, she kicked her legs and said she wouldn’t stand. Officers carried her out, and Ryan Wilson, who owns the business, said he saw her almost kick one of the officers in the face.

Wilson said he understands why Dillman and Dorvilier are upset, but he disagreed with Dillman’s description in her Facebook post that he laughed the situation off.

“It looks terrible to watch, it’s not something you want to see, but what could they have done?” Wilson asked Wednesday. “When people run from police, I don’t know what their protocol is, but they were trying to get her down to the ground because she was fighting.”

Dillman and Dorvilier, who are both Hamline University students and friends, resigned after the arrest at the store Thursday.

POLICE ARRESTED TEEN AND HER BROTHER

Police arrested the 13-year-old on suspicion of fourth-degree assault on an officer, obstructing legal process with force, fleeing on foot and trespassing. They also arrested her 14-year-old brother after he fought with officers outside the store, Linders said.

In any instance of a St. Paul officer using force, the police department’s leadership team reviews the case to determine whether it was within their policy, Linders said.

With people offering varying opinions on the video, Dillman said she’s hoping to get a community conversation going.

“This isn’t how police officers should be de-escalating the situation with the intent of bettering the community,” she said. “… I think it comes down to youth and young people being treated as criminals when maybe they haven’t had the same opportunities.”