Autistic boy detained by NYPD after discussing dark comedy ‘Heathers’ for school assignment: suit
An autistic Harlem boy was detained by the NYPD and subjected to a mental evaluation after he chose the 1989 dark comedy “Heathers” for a school assignment — and told a teacher he identified with the murderous main character, according to a lawsuit.
Terrance O’Connor, 15, was asked to pick a movie to discuss in class last year, and watched the Winona Ryder classic on his iPad before telling the teacher he identified with Christian Slater’s homicidal character, “J.D.,” according to his dad, David, 45.
The teacher then reported the boy to school administrators, who alerted security at PS 72/The Lexington Academy on East 104th Street in Harlem, who in turn recommended contacting the NYPD, O’Connor said in a complaint filed May 19.
No one told the cops that Terrance was autistic and in a special education setting, said his dad, who described the boy as “15, but he’s really more like 5.”
The police told O’Connor they were putting Terrance under arrest “for homicidal ideation and a potential terrorist threat,” according to the Manhattan Supreme Court complaint filed against the city, the Department of Education, the NYPD, Health and Hospitals Corp. and others.
More than half a dozen officers then showed up at O’Connor’s door later the same day, hauling the boy to the 23rd Precinct for questioning, the court documents state.
“If you see this kid, he will not hurt a bug. He is the sweetest kid in the world,” the elder O’Connor told The Post. “They never notified the police that my son was a special needs student. I wasn’t even allowed to say goodbye with my son. They kept him, no attorney, no nothing they were back there talking to him.”
The boy was then sent to Metropolitan Hospital for a mental evaluation, the complaint states.
“That really screwed him up. He’s seen a whole lot in one night that no kid should ever see, especially because of other people’s mistakes and poor judgment,” O’Connor said.
Terrance didn’t get home from the June 2, 2022 ordeal until after midnight, the enraged dad said.
Now “my son, he doesn’t leave the house. … He thinks the cops and the federali are watching him. So he isolates himself,” said O’Connor, a father of three.
“My son was not destroyed before this.”
The family has seen its share of tragedy, said O’Connor, who recalled them losing their home in Hurricane Sandy and his kids, including Terrance, finding their mom dead in the bathroom after battling health problems.
“I don’t have my son. My son, the one that I would sit down and do Legos with, I don’t have him,” he lamented.
The boy was “gravely failed by the very institutions which should have protected him,” family lawyer Migir Ilganayev said. “What happened to TJ should never happen to any child, irrespective of whether they are autistic or not.”
The family is seeking unspecified damages. The NYPD and the city Law Department declined comment on the litigation.
