State Trooper Charged with Multiple Felonies for ‘Brutally’ Beating Teen Who Ding Dong Ditched His House

A Delaware state trooper faces multiple charges after “brutally” beating a 15-year-old boy for an apparent "ding-dong ditch" prank at his house. 

Dempsey R. Walters, 29, punched the teen in the face after turning off his body-worn camera. The state’s Attorney General Kathy Jennings alleged on Tuesday that the trooper fractured the teen’s eye socket.

He had also allegedly assaulted a 17-year-old on Aug. 17 after they both engaged in a verbal dispute, according to Jennings. Walters was off duty that day, and he was on his way to his home.

In response to allegedly assaulting the two teens, the trooper has been charged with felonies that include second-degree assault and deprivation of civil rights, USA Today reported. 

Walters is also facing misdemeanor charges that include two counts of third-degree assault and two counts of official misconduct, according to the Delaware Department of Justice and Delaware State Police.

The trooper attacked the teen after his girlfriend reported that the teen, whose name hasn’t been released, kicked the front door of their home in Lancaster Village on Aug. 21, according to Jennings. The door kick was a prank that the teen played along with three of his friends. 

Walters then went to the teen’s home with local police and forced the unarmed boy to step outside the house at gunpoint, according to a video released by Jenning’s office.

The attorney general’s office said that Walters “forcibly” pulled the boy out of the doorway and forced him onto the ground, “causing injuries.” The teen was then handcuffed and detained, even though he wasn’t formally arrested.

Walters was on duty when the alleged assault happened, according to USA Today. He had turned off his body cam during the incident, but a program in the device captured the altercation without audio. 

The handcuffed teen was taken to the back of a Delaware State Police SUV, where Walters struck the boy in the face, according to body cam footage. The trooper then flashed a light at the teen before turning his body camera back on, activating the device’s audio. 

 Walters is then heard saying to the teen, “You sure about that?"

"Please tell me what I did?! Please tell me what I did?!" the teen asked Walters.

“As a mother and grandmother, the footage in this case is hard to watch. As a prosecutor, the constitutional violations are stunning,” Jennings wrote in the Tuesday statement. 

She continued: “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. He will now face criminal consequences for his actions.”

Meanwhile, State Police Colonel Melissa Zebley said on Tuesday that the agency is aware of “the gravity of the situation” and apologized to the two teen victims, according to USA Today.

"We assure you all that we are taking every possible step to prevent such things from happening in the future," she said.

Walters, who has worked as a trooper for nearly seven years, has been suspended without pay or benefits.