A public outcry has emerged in Unitedville, Cayo District, following an alleged incident of police brutality that was captured on camera and spread widely across social media platforms. The incident, which took place on Friday, October 16, has left the family of 29-year-old Samuel Parham demanding full accountability and clear answers from law enforcement authorities.
The footage, which has gone viral in regional online communities, shows a local police officer holding Parham in a chokehold during a routine detention operation. Parham’s cousin, Nikkita Perez, who has stepped forward as the family’s spokesperson, told local reporters that the incident is not an isolated one. According to Perez, Parham has been targeted by repeated harassment and unnecessary use of force by officers in the area for an extended period.
Perez explained that she was not present when the confrontation first began, but rushed to the family’s property after receiving an urgent call from other relatives. What she encountered when she arrived left her shocked. “When I got over there, I saw Samuel underneath the police vehicle,” Perez recalled in an interview with News 5.
She immediately attempted to provide medical assistance to Parham, who was visibly injured and bleeding following the altercation. “Please just excuse me, just let me take care of him and attend to the bleeding and see what’s going on,” Perez told the officers on scene. Her request for access to her cousin was initially ignored by the responding officers, Perez said, and she ultimately had to intervene on her own to give Parham first aid.
After the incident, Parham told Perez that he had grown exhausted from the constant targeting by law enforcement. “He said he was tired of what he described as repeated harassment and beatings by police,” Perez shared. She added that she urged Parham to cooperate with officers during the detention to avoid further escalation, so the family could pursue formal action after the fact.
Beyond the harm done to Parham, the incident and repeated police presence at the family’s property have inflicted lasting psychological harm on young children who live in the area, Perez said. Several children who witnessed the encounter now suffer from fear and trauma related to law enforcement. “When they see a police, they want to run too because they say, ‘I don’t want nobody to beat me up like when they beat up that one.’ They left the children traumatised,” Perez said.
The family has outlined two core demands for official investigation: first, a full explanation of why the officer deployed a chokehold, including clarification on whether the restraint technique is formally approved in standard police training and whether its use in this incident complied with departmental policies; second, an answer as to why Parham has been repeatedly targeted for harassment by local officers.
“We need answers because why every time you see this young man, you want to harass this young man?” Perez said in a statement to reporters.
As of Tuesday, Parham’s mother confirmed that the family has retained legal counsel to represent Parham in upcoming court proceedings and to pursue a formal investigation into the alleged brutality. No official statement has yet been released by the Cayo District Police Department regarding the incident or the family’s demands.