BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Sept. 26, 2019– A group of police officers tried to arrest a girl who had escaped from the Princess Royal Youth Hostel, but the effort to detain her turned out poorly for them.

A video released on social media showed the officers struggling with the girl, 15, who had been put in a chokehold by one of the officers while she was being manhandled by the other officers, who were trying to handcuff her. She eventually escaped, anyhow, although she was later apprehended.

The incident occurred at about 2:30 yesterday afternoon at the corner of North Front Street and Majestic Alley, near the building which formerly housed City Hall in Belize City.

Spectators who saw what was happening began to gather around and began to video the struggle with the out- of-control girl.

The video that went viral showed that while the five officers were attempting to “bangles” her, she head-butted and lashed out at the officers.

When the chokehold was applied, the spectators became angry and told police to stop treating the girl as if she were an animal, and there was a back-and-forth with police.

Although the girl struggled with police officers, they were restrained in their approach. She was not pepper-sprayed, nor was she beaten.

An official of the Youth Hostel told us that it is not easy to deal with the girls in the institution, because they have many behavioral issues. She calls on the community to stop criticizing and to help the institution in rehabilitating the inmates by volunteering to help in a program, or to help in tutoring them.

The girl is still in police custody, and will be returned to her dorm, but she must sign a behavior contract, during which her privileges will be restricted and her behavior monitored.