New York state police troopers handcuff and shackle 'combative' five-year-old boy after two-hour tantrum

The boy was taken to be assessed by a doctor at hospital, who decided the boy had been 'having a tantrum'

New York police have defended the actions of its troopers who handcuffed and shackled the boy

New York state police are defending the actions of two troopers who handcuffed and shackled the feet of a five-year-old boy who they called “combative” and “out of control” after having a two-hour tantrum.

The Watertown Daily Times reports that the boy, named Connor, who was in a class for children with learning difficulties, was taken in a patrol car to the Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown, New York, for a mental health evaluation.

Trooper Jack Keller told the newspaper the boy was “screaming, kicking, punching and biting,” and that he posed a risk to himself, students, school staff and troopers.

But the boy’s mother, Chelsea Ruiz, claimed their son is now emotionally traumatized from the ordeal, and accused the staff of not handling the situation properly and letting it escalate before she and her husband could arrive and calm their son down.

An official with the Jefferson-Lewis Board of Co-operative Educational Services said that staff had tried for two hours to de-escalate the situation until police arrived.

Ms Ruiz told the newspaper her son had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and oppositional defiant disorder.

She added that when her son had been taken by the police for a mental health assessment, hospital officials had determined that her son did not need to be evaluated by a psychiatrist.

“The doctor who decides whether a person needs to see the psychiatrist decided he was just being a boy and threw a tantrum,” she added.

The boy’s parents have said they plan on suing the district.

Additional reporting by AP