The Santa Ana Unified School District Police Department has launched an investigation into video footage apparently showing a school police officer restraining a sobbing 14-year-old boy with a headlock.

Shot Tuesday, the cellphone footage shows the boy crying and pleading for help as the school police officer wraps an arm around his throat.

The officer tells the boy, “Stop fighting me.”

The crying boy, who is restrained by the officer, replies and says, “I’m not fighting you.”

“Someone please help me,” the boy says.

Santa Ana School Police Chief Hector Rodriguez on Wednesday declined to identify the officer or disclose his duty status.

Elvia Fernandez shot the footage about 10 a.m. Tuesday after driving near John Adams Elementary and witnessing the incident. She said it appeared the boy was tagging a bench in the area of Raitt Street and Warner Avenue. Then, a school police officer walked toward him, she said.

“The officer sat him on the bench and bent him down. With his hands, he (the officer) pushed his face to his knees … then he put him on the floor and that’s when I started videotaping him,” said Fernandez, 21. “He put his whole body weight on him.”

At one point, the officer threatened to use pepper spray, Fernandez said.

In the footage Fernandez can be heard in Spanish and English trying to calm the boy, telling him to relax. The officer is heard saying, “Stop speaking Spanish.”

Rodriguez said the department is conducting a use-of-force investigation. The boy, who Rodriguez said bit the officer, was arrested on suspicion of vandalism, resisting arrest and assaulting the officer.

“He had an obligation to comply with the arrest. At one point, he bit the officer. The officer had to arrest him and control his movement because he was resisting,” said Rodriguez. “We look at any incidents regarding the use of force to see if there’s anything that was inappropriate on the part of the officer.”

“My job is to be the final decision-maker in whether this was inappropriate or not … to be fair to not just the officer but the young man that was involved as well,” Rodriguez said.

Rafael Solorzano, a coordinator with the Santa Ana Boys and Men of Color, said it was surprising to see school police using what he considers excessive force.

“It blew me away,” Solorzano said. “It’s important that we, along with the district, define the role of law enforcement in our schools and community. We need to reduce police contact and arrests within our schools.”

Fernandez, a mother of a 5-year-old, said she videotaped and posted the incident in hopes of getting in touch with the boy’s parents. As of 3 p.m., more than 6,000 Facebook users had shared the video.

“I thought that little kid was like my child,” she said. “I’m a mother, I wouldn’t let that fly if it were my son and I’m pretty sure the little kid’s parents don’t know what really went on.’’

Contact the writer: 714-796-7854 or amolina@ocregister.com