Biracial Teenager Tasered By Trooper For Looking “Suspicious”

A 16-year-old boy was tasered by a patrol officer who followed him to his girlfriend’s home because he “looked suspicious.”

TEEN TASED: His mother tells us she wishes he would have complied with the trooper’s commands, but she also believes the use of the taser was excessive.

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— Manuel Bojorquez (@BojorquezCBS) June 23, 2021

On June 16th, Jack Rodeman, who is biracial, was confronted by George Smyrnios, a Florida Highway Patrol Trooper, in the backyard of his girlfriend’s residence in Indian Laurel Way, Fort Myers. Surveillance video showed the shocking moment when the teenager was tasered, which caused him to fall back and hit his head on a brick fountain.

The trooper is seen on film pointing his taser at the teen and ordering him to place his hands behind his head moments before discharging the weapon.

“I didn’t do nothing,” Rodeman replies as he continues looking down at his cell phone. Once tasered, Rodeman screams in pain and continues to shout that he has not done anything. As the teen lay on the ground while the officer cuffed him, his girlfriend came outside the door and informed Smyrnios that her boyfriend was allowed to be at the home. However, he was still apprehended.

Rodeman’s mother, Kristina, says her son posed no danger to anyone and had permission to be in the house’s backyard while he waited outside for his girlfriend. She is sure that Smyrnios racially profiled her child, who was ultimately arrested for possession of medical marijuana, loitering, and a criminal traffic violation. Rodeman was ordered to serve 21 days in a juvenile detention facility.

“I think something should have been done. He shouldn’t have done that to my kid,” Kristina stated. She says that her son, his girlfriend, and her mother are all traumatized from the experience.

The attorney for the Rodeman family, Derek Tyler, told WINK that Rodeman now has to undergo an x-ray to scan for any vertebral fractures following the painful fall. He remains in the juvenile assessment center and was on probation at the time of the incident.

“We are going to vigorously defend all of the charges, and we are also going to vigorously pursue every legal avenue available regarding the unmitigated, unjustified torture that he was subjected to by the officer involved,” Tyler said.

The arrest is currently under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol.