Video shows deputy grabbing handcuffed teenage girl by throat

A Bozeman Montana sheriffs deputy was charged with felony abuse of a prisoner after he was caught on video grabbing a handcuffed teenage girl by the throat.

Thomas L. Madsen resigned last Thursday, a day before the felony charge was filed in District Court in Gallatin County, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported Wednesday.

Court records said the 17-year-old girl shut the lights off in an interrogation room because she wanted to sleep. Madsen told the girl to leave the lights on and repeatedly told her to either lie down or sit down, according to court documents.

"You turn the lights off, you're going to find yourself in a whole world of hurt, girl," Madsen is heard telling her, beginning a verbal exchange between the two that ended with her rejecting a final request to sit down.

Madsen "then enters the room quickly, grabbing the female by the throat and pushing her backwards against the wall," court documents say in describing the video. "He holds her there for approximately 5-7 seconds."

Madsen grabbed the girl with such force that "her hair is momentarily extended due to the rapid movement," according to the documents.

Full story

The girls crime? She was being held as a runaway. A runaway. And she gets choked for trying to sleep in a room. This sounds a lot more like her crime was the so-called contempt of cop rather than anything else. She refused to listen to unreasonable requests to leave the light on.

If it was really that big of a deal or a safety issue to not turn the light off, then why wasn't she moved to a room where there was no switch for her to turn off instead of choking her for not listening?

There is no video though for us to see....for the moment...of the incident. It hasn't been released yet. I will update it when I can find it. At least he was charged instead of having this swept under the table.

Please note..there is no video for this thread. The video was only mentioned in the story because that is what was used by authorities to charge the deputy who did it.

WOW! what a sick, sick world we live in today..Can't say i'm surprised much though..

Typical.
Second line.

This thread is fail without video.

Please note, the deputy was charged.

People assume that this is standard treatment but when these things surface, the officers find themselves on the other side of the fence.

He did the crime and he'll pay the price.

Originally posted by Wildbob77
Please note, the deputy was charged.

People assume that this is standard treatment but when these things surface, the officers find themselves on the other side of the fence.

He did the crime and he'll pay the price.

cops are only charged with there crimes half of the time..

Originally posted by Fitch303
This thread is fail without video.

There was no video with it. The title comes from the story in the paper. The video has not been released to the public.

Originally posted by webpirate

Originally posted by Fitch303
This thread is fail without video.

There was no video with it. The title comes from the story in the paper. The video has not been released to the public.

Nor will it ever be released i'm sure..

reply to post by TechVampyre


Probably not. I'm gonna keep hoping for it though. If it is released my guess is it will be edited.

Darn it! They oughta put a really official-looking sign above that light switch that says, "DO NOT TURN OFF!" We did that with one of the light switches at work, and I haven't had to throttle anyone for ages.

reply to post by webpirate


Every time i read articles about police brutality or videos I get so pissed off, the thing i always question is how many police brutality cases happen that we don't hear about.

That's just great, one more thing to piss me off! Look, u got any good news ? Maybe a story about a cop that does something good for a change? You guys are driving me to drink!