OCEAN CITY, Md. — The family of an 18-year old Perryville, Maryland man seen in a viral video being tasered by Ocean City police on June 6 says they are seeking accountability.
The mother of recent high school graduate Taizier Griffin blames police for escalating an attempt to enforce a vaping ban to a potentially deadly confrontation.
We also spoke to Griffin, who told us he never thought this incident would happen to him. He said his day started normal and the next thing he knows he was being arrested over a vape.
"There was a bunch of people vaping on the boardwalk and stuff, they didn't arrest all of them, they chose to come at me because I mean I was vaping. But what about the 50 other kids who are vaping and walking down the boardwalk and their white kids and they're not saying nothing to them but they choose to say something to me," Griffin told WUSA9.
Video of the incident shows Griffin holding his hands up, then reaching toward a backpack strap before being tased. The video has sparked calls from the NAACP and members of Congress for an investigation.
Griffin’s mother said that Griffin's 16-year old brother called her on the phone while the arrest was happening.
(Note the embedded tweet below incorrectly refers to Griffin as a 17-year-old ... He is 18)
"He sent me the first video, which is the one that you see with his hands up, and he was tased and I was terrified," said mother Jessica Barber.
"I was thinking in my brain just praying to God that it did not escalate anymore because I wasn't sure if I was going to see my son again.”
The encounter was one of two caught on video that has raised alarms about policing in Ocean City.
On June 12, four teens were arrested during a confrontation where an officer can be seen repeatedly driving his knee into a suspect's rib cage.
Police confirm that both encounters started when officers tried to enforce a ban on vaping on the boardwalk.
Barber said the enforcement involving her son was heavy-handed.
“I feel like a simple vape violation could have just been a citation," Barber said. "But because they escalated it so far, it turned into all these other charges, and I don't even understand. It did not need to go that far.”
Taizier Griffin faces charges including assault and resisting arrest after authorities accused him of pushing past an officer, refusing to show ID and making threats.
Police say he had a knife concealed in his backpack, according to charging documents filed in court.
Griffin’s mother said her son was reacting out of fear.
“He said 'mom, I never thought it was going to go that far.' He said he was terrified," Barber said. “From my understanding from the witnesses, there was no cussing at the officers until after he was tased and on the ground and handcuffed. He was merely telling them to get off of him and he was using profanities but he said he was just scared. He was very scared.”
Ocean City police say there has been no formal complaint of police misconduct filed in any of the cases.
But all the arrests see on video are going be reviewed by the department’s Office of Professional Standards, police said.