A Newark police officer has been suspended after he was caught on a surveillance camera beating a teenager. It happened Wednesday night just before 10:00. The video is from a surveillance camera outside of 47 Spruce Street. Travis Rattrey, 15, is seen sitting on the steps. He says he was waiting for a friend. That friend comes into the picture at the same time as an undercover Newark narcotics officer.
‘He started checking my pockets and said, ‘Where are you going?’ I said I’m going to meet my friend,’ Travis explained. Over the next minute or so, the officer continued to check Travis pockets, and then all of a sudden, he unloaded. The officer punched Travis in the face and slams him into a glass window. He and another officer then took him to the ground. Travis admits there was some verbal jousting.