11-year-old mistakenly handcuffed amid search for car thief in New York | VIDEO
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- An 11-year-old girl was handcuffed by deputies in Syracuse, New York after she was wrongly identified as a suspect in a stolen car investigation.
The young girl was walking home with her cousin from school when she was interrupted by Onondaga County Sheriff's deputies.
The deputies explained that the 11-year-old girl matched the description for a young person who allegedly stole a Kia.
"We got 12-year-olds driving these Kias and Hyundais," the deputy said in a video recorded by the girl's cousin.
The children repeatedly told the deputies that they had the wrong girl.
The deputies insisted that the 11-year-old girl in handcuffs is lying, showing them a photo of the suspect.
"Girl, you gonna tell me this ain't you?," the deputy responded.
More deputies arrived to the scene, and the 11-year-old starts to cry out of fear.
That's when one of the deputies admits that she is not the suspect.
"That's not her."
The girl's mother said the young girl is scared to walk home from school after the incident.
The mother, who asked to stay anonymous, said she couldn't finish watching the video.
"I can't make sense of it," the mother said, "I couldn't even finish watching the video. Even if it wasn't my child I wouldn't be able to finish watching the video because that's not how you handle children."
Eventually, the deputies realized the girl they placed in handcuffs is not their suspect.
"I'm sorry about it, but you match the description pretty clearly," one of the deputies said. "You guys are good to go, ok. I'm sorry."
However, the girl's mom is not accepting the apology.
The leader of the Syracuse Chapter of the National Action Network said the deputies' actions hurt community trust.
The Onondaga County Sheriff's Office told ABC News in a statement on Tuesday that they have changed their policy and will now "notify a parent or guardian of any juvenile who is detained for criminal investigative purposes, no matter how brief the encounter is."
