A Deming, NM teen who must have thought it would be funny to pay his fine in quarters found out the hard way such antics are not appreciated by municipal workers or law enforcement.
After dumping a box of coins on the court staffer’s counter top to pay a fine, teenager Juan Weaver refuses to take it back and replace it with a more appropriate form of payment. Weaver refuses and the court worker calls the police. During the call, dispatch can hear the yelling at the courthouse and reported that information to officers en route.
Making an odd situation even more perplexing is the fact it apparently Weaver’s mom, Andrea Acosta is filming the entire situation, including the part when officers arrive and her son resists arrests.
After refusing to take his hands out of his pockets or provide identification, officers begin to place Weaver under arrest, which he violently resists. In the video, Weaver can be seen kicking one officer who was trying to get the teen under control.
After the video of the arrest went viral, the Deming Police Department issued the following statement on Facebook:
“On March 31, 2017 at approximately 3:55 P.M officers from the Deming Police Department were dispatched to a disturbance at 309 S. Gold, which is Municipal Court. Dispatch advised officers they could hear yelling in the background of the phone call reporting the incident. This information heightened the officer’s expectation regarding their safety. Upon arrival officers met with the parties involved in the disturbance. It was learned that there was an argument between court staff and a male subject later identified as Juan Weaver. As officers were talking with Juan Weaver he placed his hand in his pocket. Officers asked for him to remove his hand for officer safety. Mr. Weaver placed his hand back in his pocket and officers again asked him to remove his hand for officer safety as the officers had no idea what he was carrying in his pocket and same was big enough to house a weapon. Mr. Weaver refused to take his hand out of his pocket the second time thereby disobeying the lawful order of the officer’s. At that point, Mr. Weaver was asked for his identification and he refused to provide officers with identification saying he didn’t have to while at the same time the officers were removing Weaver’s hand from his pocket. Mr. Weaver was then advised he was being placed under arrest. Mr. Weaver resisted and assaulted the officers and was taken into custody after a brief struggle. As is standard, every time a Juvenile is arrested, a probation officer from CYFD does an assessment to determine whether the juvenile will be continued in detention or released to his parents based upon charges after arrest. In this case the results from the assessment called for the continued detention of the juvenile based upon the severity of the Juvenile’s actions in this case.”
He provided legal tender that must be accepted by the municipality. Sound like the municipality broke the law. The police then ask for his I’D and immediately tackle him for doing what they ask.
Hahaha I took a look at the video and this article clearly exaggerates the teens actions. In all I’m sure the teen will be set free with charges dropped after a lawyer takes action. Quarters are legal tender by all definition it states it as coins or banknotes that must be accepted if offered in payment of a debt…… MUST. Yes maybe it’s not funny to him anymore but it’s funny to see that a system that suppose to place and defend the rules in action doesn’t apply when they don’t feel like dealing with counting quarters or even pennies. This shows you corruption in a system that abuses its power on something so insignificant and simple. Cops that show up and muscle him with what looks like instigation like “why your mommy here” and giving him no chance to provide anything. The teen has a right to defend himself in unlawful detention and arrest as well. Written or unwritten. Your description in “violently” was placed on the wrong person.
Haha first of all my mom wasn’t recording she showed up later on
Comments are closed.