The video shows the girl making a mess in the assistant principal's office at the school, and disobeying several requests to behave. She also repeatedly climbs on a table.

Later, she is shown sitting calmly in the office.

A police officer recognizes the girl from a previous incident and then begins to handcuff her. She screams as the handcuffs are applied.

Police also said they put ankle cuffs on the girl as she sat in the police car because they said she was kicking and hitting officers. She was later released to her mother and has since transferred to another school.

St. Petersburg Police aren't calling the case an arrest, saying they merely placed the child in protective custody. The police say they are conducting an internal investigation.

Trevena says the police should not have handcuffed the girl.

"The fact that they had to use plastic restraints and that the standard-issued handcuffs would not fit the 5-year-old, that says it all," Trevena said. "Handcuffs aren't made for 5-year-olds, because 5-year-olds aren't supposed to be handcuffed."

Shot of the girl in the assistant principal's office prior to being handcuffed.

Trevena says his client will sue St. Petersburg Police if she isn't offered a settlement and given an apology. He says the State Attorney's Office declined to prosecute the little girl.

"They're the only ones that exercised any common sense in this," said Trevena. "They immediately distanced themselves from the arrest, and immediately stated that they would never prosecute a 5-year-old under those circumstances."

Fairmount Elementary is the same school where Etraveon Johnson left the facility during class on April 12 and was hit by a car. He remains hospitalized in critical condition.

 

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