Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.
DOVER, DELAWARE: Dempsey R Walters, 29, who has been a Delaware state trooper for nearly seven years, was recently indicted following an incident in which he allegedly took the law into his own hands after a group of teenagers played a prank on his girlfriend by engaging in a game of "ding dong ditch," as per The New York Post.
Dempsey R Walters' alleged assault on teenager
Dempsey R Walters is accused of assaulting a 15-year-old boy, resulting in the teenager sustaining a fractured eye socket and a concussion.
The episode began when Walters' girlfriend informed him that a group of teenagers had played a prank on them by knocking on their front door and quickly fleeing the scene.
Doorbell security footage captured the incident, showing one of the teenage boys kicking their door before running away.
Walters, who was on duty at the time, received a description of the boy from his girlfriend, who had observed the incident through the doorbell camera.
Dempsey R Walters' previous altercation with a teenager
Four days before the "ding dong ditch" prank, on September 17, Walters had a confrontation with a 17-year-old boy while he was off-duty and on his way home in Elsmere.
After the altercation, he called the Elsmere police and left the scene, and responding officers escorted the teenager back to his home.
On September 21, the same night as the 'ding dong ditch' incident, Walters learned from fellow officers that a group of teenagers had been spotted running down Taft Avenue, which led him to recall the 17-year-old from the earlier altercation.
Using his police computer, Walters obtained the address of the 17-year-old and went to his house on Taft Avenue, where the boy and his friend answered the door.
Body camera footage from this visit shows the police trooper apparently pulling the boy away from the doorway and pushing him to the ground, causing injury.
Although the teenager was handcuffed and detained, he was not formally arrested during this encounter.
After failing to exact revenge during this initial encounter, Walters received information that the group of teenagers involved in the prank had been located and detained by other officers at a different location and he decided to intervene and confront the teenagers himself.
Dashcam footage reveals altercation between Dempsey R Walters and the teenagers
Dashcam footage from the incident, later released by the Delaware Department of Justice, shows three boys walking down a residential street before an officer pulled up beside them and ordered them to get on the ground.
The teenagers complied, but one officer forcefully pushed a child down, with the boy screaming in response.
Dempsey R Walters arrived at the scene and immediately joined in, throwing himself onto one of the boys and appearing to pin him down by the neck with his knee.
Moments later, he allegedly turned off his body camera, took one of the boys into the back of a police vehicle, and punched the 15-year-old boy in the face twice, resulting in a fractured eye socket and a concussion.
After the assault, Walters turned his body camera back on and walked around the vehicle.
The group of officers then drove the injured teenager to a secluded parking lot, leaving him alone with his injuries while they discussed the events of the night.
Attorney General's response regarding Dempsey R Walters' actions
Delaware's Democratic Attorney General, Kathy Jennings, issued a statement in response to the incident, expressing her concern as both a prosecutor and a mother.
"Over the course of the evening, the Defendant chose to extract his own form of personal justice by embarking on a violent rampage, assaulting two defenseless minors, and attempting to conceal his misconduct," said Jennings in a press release, adding, "He will now face criminal consequences for his actions," as per the NY Post.
Dempsey R Walters, who was suspended without pay, now faces a six-count indictment for unlawfully assaulting two minor victims.
Jennings emphasized that the minors had been targeted in a violent assault stemming from a juvenile prank, which one of the victims had not even participated in. She also noted that Walters had attempted to conceal his actions.
During a press conference, the mothers of the teenagers involved in the incident spoke out about the traumatic experience.
The mother of the 15-year-old victim expressed her concerns for her son's safety and well-being, sharing that he had returned to school but frequently visited the nurse's office due to headaches.
She expressed her feelings of insecurity, fearing that Walters had the ability to rally others to intimidate her family.
Delaware State Police and the State Department of Justice refrained from providing detailed responses due to legal constraints surrounding the ongoing case, leaving many unanswered questions about the incident and its repercussions.
