“He approached him, identified him, verified who he was and said he had to come with him,” (Sheriff’s spokeswoman Jan) Caldwell said. “The juvenile refused. As the situation unfolded, he became not only verbally assaultive but physically combative.”

When the deputy went to guide the boy into the car, Caldwell said, he resisted and at some point, bit the deputy in the hand. The deputy pulled out his Taser “to try to calm the situation,” she said.

She said during the scuffle the boy had his hands in his waist band and the deputy didn’t know if he was trying to pull a knife or gun. No weapon was found, she said.

“There were other juveniles and people in the area with skateboards and there was only one deputy,” Caldwell said. “He needed to get the situation under control as quickly as he could.”

Caldwell said the deputy tried to deploy the Taser’s probes but they didn’t hit the target, so the deputy ended up holding the Taser against the boy’s back to subdue him.

Caldwell said the department will look into reports that the deputy ordered other observers who recorded the encounter to delete videos from their cell phones. She also said the deputy did not use a “choke hold” on the youth.