The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox.

A family is accusing the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office of unnecessary use of force in an off-road vehicle incident dating back to February.

The family involved in the incident released video clips through their attorney, Ryan Thompson, who is also representing Reginald Hamilton in a similar ATV case.

The family and their child accused in the incident described what happened over a brief dash cam video.

According to the family, the 12-year-old was riding a motorbike and was pulled over for a traffic violation.

The child said he was thrown to the ground by a deputy. According to the child, his motorbike was on top of him and another deputy could be seen in the video running up and appearing to stomp the child.

The attorney and family say the child never resisted the deputies.

The child said in a video statement that, at first, he wasn't sure if the deputies were trying to pull him over. He said he pulled over once one of the deputy vehicles cut him off.

The video posted by Thompson did not show the incident from start to finish. Only brief clips were posted.

The video briefly shows the child pulling over on the side of the road. The video then skips to the deputy exiting his car and pulling the child to the ground.

According to the child, he had scrapes on his legs and a headache after the incident. He claims he was evaluated by a doctor, and X-rays showed he had suffered a fracture.

The child's parents also claim they were not notified of the incident. The mother claims she approached a deputy and tried to find out more information on what happened, but was told that her son was arrested and "going to (expletive) jail."

Thompson released the following statement on behalf of the family.

"On Feb. 19, 2022 my 5 foot 4 inch, 135 pound 12 year old client was riding his motor bike in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana with friends and family.

"Shortly thereafter, deputies were effectuating a stop for alleged traffic violations.

"After pulling to the side of the road, stopping his bike and turning off the engine Sgt. Dugas snatches my 5 foot 4 inch, 135 pound 12 year old client off his bike and violently slams him to the ground.

"While Sgt. Dugas is laying on top of my 5 foot 4 inch, 135 pound 12 year old client, Sgt. Francis runs over and violently kicks and stomps on my client. My client never resisted these large adult deputies! NEVER!!!!

"The family wants the world to see what Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Deputies did to their 5 foot 4 inch, 135 pound 12 year old child.

"Both of these deputies should be fired immediately and arrested!

"NO CHILD IN AMERICA SHOULD BE TREATED LIKE THIS!!! THIS BEHAVIOR BY PPSO MUST AND WILL STOP!!!!"

The Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office released a statement in response to the video.

The statement claims that the child's bike was operating without headlights and was operating recklessly on Woodland Highway with other ATVs.

Deputies claim the child was with several others on off-road dirt bikes and four-wheelers and refused to stop and continued driving recklessly northbound on Highway 23.

The sheriff said of the five people driving ATVs, only two were taken into custody, the minor being represented by Thompson, and 20-year-old Jaiques Wilson, who was arrested.

According to the Plaquemines Parish sheriff, the minor did not pull over for deputies. They claim his motorbike became disabled and that he continued to try to run from officers.

The sheriff said the minor was taller than most deputies and "refused reasonable demands" to get off his dirt bike when the struggle ensued after the child resisted being handcuffed.

Both Wilson and the child were taken to the Belle Chase lockup to be booked, according to the sheriff. The sheriff said deputies called for medical assistance. Wilson was taken to an area hospital for minor treatments.

The statement says the minor was released to his parents and faces two felony charges and two misdemeanor charges.

According to the sheriff, the minor's parents did not report any injuries to the sheriff's office.

"Since the date of the incident on February 19, 2022, neither the juvenile male nor his parents made any complaints to the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office regarding any injuries sustained during this incident. After recently retaining the services of the same legal counsel as Reginald Hamilton, it is clear these allegations are an attempt to present edited, contextualized content to inflame the public's perception of the facts of these incidents," the sheriff's statement read in part.

The sheriff said the incident was investigated, and the deputies performed their duties within the guidelines of the PPSO policy, using only the force necessary to subdue the suspects.

The sheriff said in his issued statement that the facts of both the minor's and Hamilton's case will be shown in court, where he believes the truth will come out and justice will be served.

"We will not be intimidated by false narratives and five-second edited videos that fail to present the entire story. We will continue to educate, train and provide the tools necessary for our deputies to effectively and professionally fulfill our oath and protect our community from those who wish to victimize the innocent by intentionally and blatantly disregarding the law," the statement read in part.

View the sheriff's office statement in its entirety here:

"On February 19, 2022, during a high traffic period, PPSO responded to calls of multiple ATVs, four 4-wheelers and an off-road dirt bike without functioning headlights, operating in a reckless manner endangering motorists on Woodland Highway (LA 406).

"As deputies attempted to stop the ATVs using visual and audible signals on Woodland Highway, the ATVs refused to stop, proceeding northbound onto Highway 23.

"During the course of the incident, all the four-wheelers and the dirt bike created a public safety hazard by blatantly disregarding numerous traffic laws designed for commuters to travel without fear of their safety.

"The actions committed by the operators of these vehicles include, but are not limited to - disregarding functioning traffic signals (red lights), crossing lanes into oncoming traffic, traveling after dusk without headlights, failure to yield to oncoming traffic, leaving the roadway onto the sidewalk and entering private property and disregarding speed laws.

"The actions by these individuals were compounded as they refused to comply to all reasonable demands to cease their actions by multiple deputies. Of the five ATVs involved in this incident, two apprehensions were made while the other three evaded deputies and exited the parish.

"On the day of the incident, this investigation was immediately posted on our social media platforms and was not reported by local media (see attached screenshot of PPSO post).Because of the reckless nature displayed by Jaiques Wilson, 20, of New Orleans, deputies discontinued their attempts to stop his four-wheeler as he proceeded to travel into oncoming traffic endangering motorists.

"As a result of the lawlessness displayed by Wilson, he was involved in a vehicular crash after entering the Belle Chasse Tunnel in the wrong direction and striking a vehicle head-on. Wilson then fled the scene on foot, but thanks to the quick thinking of witnesses of the incident who contacted PPSO via 911.

"Wilson was apprehended soon thereafter. Wilson has since pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation on three felony charges; Aggravated Obstruction of a Highway, Aggravated Criminal Damage and Aggravated Flight from an Officer.

"As a part of a plea agreement, several traffic offenses and a Contributing to the Delinquency of a Juvenile charge were dismissed.

"The second apprehension was the co-defendant of Jaiques Wilson in this incident and at the time of apprehension was learned to be a juvenile male.

"The case is still currently in the adjudication process. Therefore, we are limited on the information that can be released.

"The juvenile male, who was taller than most deputies that were on the scene and wearing a full-face helmet, was apprehended after his dirt bike became disabled despite his attempts to continue to flee from deputies.

"He refused reasonable demands to get off of the dirt bike which led to him physically struggling with deputies while avoiding attempts to be handcuffed. Deputies proceeded to use necessary force to effect the arrest.

"The juvenile was charged with two felonies, two misdemeanors including resisting arrest and traffic violations.

"Both Wilson and the juvenile male were transported to the Belle Chasse lockup to be booked. An Emergency Medical Services unit arrived at the lockup after being requested by deputies.

"Wilson was transported to a local hospital for minor injuries.

"The juvenile male, who was released to a parent, did not complain of any injuries and therefore was not transported to the hospital. It should be noted that the juvenile male was not observed to have any apparent injuries while displaying normal actions without any complaints or discomfort which was evident in case video.

"PPSO has reviewed all the actions of the deputies that responded to the February 19th incident and determined all deputies performed their duties within the guidelines of the PPSO policy, using only the force necessary to subdue the suspects.

"Since the date of the incident on February 19, 2022, neither the juvenile male nor his parents made any complaints to the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office regarding any injuries sustained during this incident.

"After recently retaining the services of the same legal counsel as Reginald Hamilton, it is clear these allegations are an attempt to present edited, contextualized content to inflame the public's perception of the facts of these incidents.

"All the facts of these cases will be presented in a court of law and we are confident the truth will be presented and justice will be served in both cases.

"How do you stop the blatant disregard of the law and criminal actions that endanger the community? What will happen if PPSO does not pursue or attempt to stop this lawlessness in our safe community? Will this make our community safer?

"The Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office will continue to enforce the laws for any individuals that blatantly disregard the laws of Plaquemines Parish and the State of Louisiana while placing our constituents in harm's way.

"We will not allow lawlessness to spread throughout our community.

"We've all seen the recent stories of homicides, armed robberies and carjackings that are plaguing the surrounding area. An elderly female dying after getting mutilated during a carjacking.

"An elderly female dying after being shot in the head while celebrating at a high school graduation.

"Intersections being closed by individuals with firearms to perform unsanctioned vehicular stunts.

"Three homicides were reported just today in the City of New Orleans. Where does it end? PPSO has sworn an oath to protect all residents and visitors in Plaquemines Parish and to provide everyone with a safe environment and the quality of life that they deserve.

"We will not be intimidated by false narratives and five-second edited videos that fail to present the entire story.

"We will continue to educate, train and provide the tools necessary for our deputies to effectively and professionally fulfill our oath and protect our community from those who wish to victimize the innocent by intentionally and blatantly disregarding the law.

"We understand we are not perfect and we will continue to make strides to improve as a department, but we will not allow lawlessness as we continue to stand behind and protect our community as well as our deputies when they are performing 100% within the law and our policy."

This incident comes as the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office faced criticism in the handling of Hamilton's case.

Hamilton was accused of striking and injuring a deputy on purpose during a pursuit on the Woodland Bridge back in May.

Both Hamilton and the deputy were seriously injured in the collision.

Video was released of the incident showing the deputy jumping in front of the ATV.

The dashcam video also showed one of the deputies chasing Hamilton on the ATV, almost bumping into him.

Hamilton's charges were downgraded from attempted murder to aggravated second-degree battery after the new evidence came to light.

WDSU reached out to the sheriff's office to try to get the full video of the incident. The sheriff said the video could not be released because the incident is still in adjudication.

Thompson also declined releasing the full video, citing protection of his legal defense as well as adjudication.

WDSU also reached out to the Plaquemines Parish District Attorney's Office and at the time of this publication have not heard back.

Hearst Television participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.