Mother files $300,000 lawsuit against Oregon deputies after they 'pinned her 12-year-old black son onto the ground and knelt on his neck' in an incident that caused him to 'fear cops' (7 Pics)

The mother of an African American boy filed a $300,000 lawsuit Thursday, saying an Oregon police deputy knelt on the boy's neck during an arrest while two others pinned him to the ground. 

Attorneys for Ka’Mar Benbo said deputies with the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office responded to calls in August 2019 reporting teenage girls fighting in front of a suburban mall near Portland.

As Benbo, then 12, was leaving the mall with friends, he was allegedly grabbed and pinned onto the ground by several deputies.   

 A $300,00 lawsuit was filed against a number of Oregon authorities on Thursday over allegations one deputy knelt on Ka’Mar Benbo's (pictured) neck last year 

A photo taken at the scene in August 2019 shows three deputies pinning Benbo to the ground outside the Clackamas Town Center mall (pictured)

According to the lawsuit, Benbo struggled to breathe while the deputy's knee was on his neck, Oregon Public Broadcasting reports.  

The alleged brutality happened nearly a year before widespread national outrage over the killing of George Floyd, 46, after he was put in a similar hold by Minneapolis police.

Derek Chauvin, a white officer with the Minneapolis Police Department, knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes as he pleaded 'I can't breathe!' He later died. 

A number of protests have since sparked across the United States to fight police brutality and systematic racism. 

Benbo, who is now 13, and his family formally brought the lawsuit against five of the deputies involved in the matter. 

In an emailed statement, Sheriff Craig Roberts disputed the allegations and said an investigation did not find any evidence that a deputy placed a knee on the boy's neck.

'We do not train deputies to restrict a person´s airway or impede their ability to breathe. It was determined the involved deputies followed training and policy,' he wrote, adding that the sheriff´s department participated in a 'listening session' last October over concerns about the incident. 

The deputies were responding to a call from a security guard at the Clackamas Town Center mall about a 'large group of juveniles following and physically assaulting a female juvenile' on August 5, 2019.

Sheriff Craig Roberts (pictured) said an investigation was conducted on the incident and found deputies committed no wrongdoings 

Attorney Greg Kafoury for Benbo told Oregon Live that the boy was simply a witness to the fight and did not know either girl involved. 

As Benbo and his friends attempted to leave the mall, dispatched deputies told the group to sit down and then 'pounced' on him, said Kafoury.

'One officer elbowed [Benbo] in the face, officers force [Benbo] face-first to the ground, and several officers held [Benbo] with one officer putting his knee on [Benbo’s] neck using his weight to pin the child to the ground,' the lawsuit reads. 

'The pressure made it difficult for Ka’Mar to breathe.' 

Friends who witnessed the incident reportedly told deputies that Benbo was only 12-years-old. He also reportedly pleaded with officers by telling them his age.

'The (deputy) keeps a knee on his neck long after he was handcuffed,' said Kafoury. 'The kids around him are yelling "He’s 12 years old!"

Benbo's mother, Jarena McDavid,  said one of her son's friends called her to tell her what was happening after Benbo screamed out, "Please, call my mom!"

'It was terrifying. I didn't know what was happening. I just wanted him not to move and don´t reach for anything,' said McDavid.

A photo taken by a witness shows three deputies kneeling near Benbo, who was wearing a colored hoodie while pinned to the ground. 

A deputy's knee appears to be resting on or hovering over Benbo's neck, but the exact movement could not be determined based on the photo alone. 

The deputies ultimately let Benbo go and no criminal charges were filed. 

The lawsuit says Benbo suffered scrapes and bruises, headaches, loss of sleep and feelings of racial stigmatization and 'fear of police.' 

The lawsuit filed Thursday said that Benbo suffered scrapes and bruises (pictured), headaches, loss of sleep and feelings of racial stigmatization and 'fear of police' after the incident 

George Floyd (pictured) was an African-American man who died in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after an officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes

Deputy Tyler Simpkins, Deputy Thomas Broomfield, Deputy Rob Watts, Deputy Clint Pierce and Deputy Angela Church are listed as defendants in the lawsuit. 

But Sheriff Roberts maintained that Benbo was briefly detained and handcuffed because he was the only person who refused to follow orders from deputies.

McDavid first filed a complaint the day after the incident with the sheriff´s office. 

An investigation conducted by the department in September 2019 included a review of photos and videos and interviews with witnesses and deputies. 

Neither McDavid nor Benbo were interviews during the investigation, Kafoury, told the AP on Thursday.

'They elbow him in the head and then they take him to the ground, handcuff him and put the knee to the neck and leave him there for several minutes,' Kafoury said.

'No police report was generated and they never interviewed my client about what happened.'

The investigation found that the incident followed protocol and McDavid received a letter saying 'we have completed a thorough investigation' and the deputy was exonerated.

The letter read: 'We formally interviewed employees, witnesses, reviewed reports, reviewed databases, reviewed video and other relevant information.

An investigation by the police department  into alleged police brutality against Benbo (pictured) exonerated the deputy in question 

'Based on the available evidence and totality of circumstances, the investigation has determined potential violations have received a disposition of ‘Exonerated.'

Roberts said in a statement that he sympathized with McDavid and vowed to ensure his department was using 'appropriate force.'

'I know that there is nothing I can say to make their worry go away. What I can say is: I will do my part to make sure that we use appropriate force and that every use of force continues to be reviewed by my agency,' Roberts said. 

The Clackamas County District Attorney Office is now investigating the matter as well.

'We didn’t know about this until we saw it this morning,' said attorney John Foote. 'We’re looking into it.'

Authorities told McDavid they didn't call her about the incident at the time because her son wasn't injured, she said.

The lawsuit includes photographs that show scrapes and bruising around Benbo's eye and on his cheek.

The initial incident took place outside the Clackamas Towne Center Mall in a suburban neighborhood outside of Portland, Oregon 

McDavid said she first contacted an attorney about the case last year, but was pleased the lawsuit was filed Thursday because of the national attention to police brutality and racial injustice following Floyd's death.

'Right now, it's a prime time. George Floyd, for goodness sakes - watching his video made me cry because that could have been my child,' McDavid said.

According to Karfoury, the realities of police brutality has always been issue that has stifled minorities in America and the time for reform is now.

'What the world is seeing now, is what African-Americans have always known,' Kafoury said in an email to Oregon Public Broadcasting. 

'It didn’t start with a knee to the neck of George Floyd. The police here were aggressive and abusive to a 12-year-old child; that’s why if there is ever to be police reform, the time is now.'   

Roberts announced that he has asked Clackamas County’s lawyers to release the police reports from the case.