Watonga Officer Faces New Scrutiny Over Use of Force Incident With Autistic Teen

A Watonga police officer cleared in a use of force investigation is under fire for another incident.

The Blaine County Sheriff's Office requested the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to look into the officer's use of force with a struggling 15-year-old autistic boy. “He is the reason that I get up every day and fight,” said Andrea Lambert about her son, Santiago Garcia.

Lambert says her son is amazing but sometimes struggles with aggressive behaviors. “Being a parent of an autistic child is very hard, very hard at times,” she said.

On June 2, according to a police report, Watonga police officers were called to help after her son threatened family members with a knife. “All he needed was someone to listen to him,” Lambert said.

Lambert says she has called police numerous times in the past to help de-escalate tense moments involving her son but says that’s not what she saw in the body camera footage she obtained of the incident.

“It’s not okay,” she said. “I am sad, I am depressed at times but I’m also angry and I’m frustrated.” 

In the video, she says a Watonga police officer used inappropriate force to detain her son.

The video verified by the Blaine County Sheriff shows officers first trying to talk to him. “So, you’re ready to put your shoes on and go with us politely,” the officer asked. Santiago said “No.”

The video then shows the situation escalating, with the officers handcuffing him and then it shows what appears to be the officer hitting the teen as he screams. Then shows the officer admitting to it. “Ma'am, I hate it, but I mean I just punched him three times,” the officer said. “I didn't hit him full force just three times, so he understood.”

Lambert said her son was placed in in-patient care for eight days following the incident and now she said is on the correct medication. However, she said the incident has left lingering effects.

“He's even scared to leave the house,” she said. “The child that you see in that video is not my son on a daily basis.”

While in the video Lambert agrees with the officers’ tactics and even thanks them, she later watched the video and disagrees with how her son was treated.

“I said all of that in a moment of vulnerability to men I thought were there to help,” she said. “You cannot say that a grown person that has children can look at another man in a uniform doing this to a 15-year-old autistic child and say that it's okay.”

This is the second use of force investigation involving the same officer according to the sheriff. The Blaine County District Attorney's office cleared the officer in the first incident that involved a father taken into custody in front of his crying son on July 4. However, Lambert hopes for a different outcome in her son's case.

“I'm not going to stop until I get justice for my son,” she said.

Lambert said she is holding a silent, peaceful protest at the Blaine County Courthouse on Saturday, August 31 at 2 p.m. to stand up against police brutality and for justice for her son.

Watonga Police Chief Beth Massey said in a statement on Monday, “The officer is on administrative leave. We have no comment on the ongoing investigation. It is being conducted by an outside agency.”