Attorneys for an Arizona teenager have filed notice of their intent to sue the city of Phoenix and three of its police officers for a violent alteracation that broke the then-16-year-old boy’s wrist, cut his face, and saw the officers inform his father that he could essentially do anything he wanted to the boy and it would not be considered child abuse.
In body camera footage, Sergio Nino tells the three officers that his father, with the same name, regularly abuses him, and his then-18-year-old sister corroborated those statements. But the three officers — Matthew Smith, Blake Willer, and Kristofer Gries — ignored both of the children. When Nino was taken to a hospital for treatment, they also ignored the nurse’s attempts to discuss the alleged abuse, even denying the boy had said anything to them about abuse, according to notice of claim filed by the attorneys.
Nino Notice of Claim by kc wildmoon on Scribd
Nino told the officers the handcuffs they’d placed on him were too tight more than two dozen times, but it was much later they finally relented to loosen them. An X-ray found the boy’s wrist broken, ultimately requiring surgery. A cut on his face, which took place when the officers violently threw him to the floor after they snatched his phone from him, required five stitches.
But it was the officers’ comments to Nino’s father, all taken from the officers’ own body cameras, that drew the most pointed comments in the notice.
Sergio Nino, the father, called police on January 23, 2024, because, he said, his son was “acting out” by missing school and refusing to give him the cell phone that he (the son) bought an paid for. The officers told Nino to “drag” the boy and “hit him,” according to body camera footage.
“If you wish to beat him, beat him,” an officer says. “If you wish to belt him, belt him.”
The boy “only has rights from the government,” the officer says. “He has no rights from you.”
The officers and the father talk for about 10 minutes before the father brings the cops to his son’s room and calls him out.
“The officers ordered Sergio, a 16 year old teenager, to come out of his room,” the document says. “Sergio complied in a calm, non-aggressive manner. When Sergio came out of his room, the officers immediately began to harass and demean him.”
The boy told the officers that his father regularly abused him, but the officers dismissed what he said, telling the boy that he has “no rights” and “your dad should beat you.”
At that point, the officers demanded the boy’s phone, calling him a “little brat” when he explained that he paid the bill for the phone.
The officers snatched the phone from the boy’s hands and then took him violently to the floor when he reached for it.
The notice of claim asks for $500,000 to stop the lawsuit entirely but says that amount will go up if the case is forced to go to court.
Phoenix Police declined to comment on the notice and pointed KNXV to “public records.”
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Featured image: Phoenix Police Department via Zwillinger Wulkan]
