Del. State Trooper charged in ‘brutal assault' of teen boy after prank

A Delaware State Trooper has been charged with multiple felonies following allegations that he -- as detailed by the Delaware State Attorney General's office -- brutally assaulted a 15-year-old victim and fracturing his orbital socket in response to an apparent prank.

It's the state of Delaware's first use of the new Deprivation of Civil Rights statute.

According to court documents, Trooper Dempsey Walters, 29, has been charged with deprivation of civil rights, several counts of assault and two counts of official misconduct following after Walters, allegedly, attacked two teen boys after someone kicked the door of his home in Lancaster Village, in Elsmere.

As detailed in documents provided by the attorney general's office, while off-duty, Walters is alleged to have engaged in a verbal altercation at his home with a 17-year-old boy on Aug. 17. During that altercation, Walters contacted the Elsmere Police Department and responding officers transported the boy to his home and he was not arrested.

Following that incident, officials claim Walters used police equipment to look up the teen on a law enforcement database.

Four days later, on Aug. 21, while on-duty, the district attorney's office claims a 15-year-old boy covered his face, and in an attempt to play a prank, kicked the front door of Walters' home. The district attorney's office said that Walters' girlfriend, who was home, called him after she heard the noise at the door and gave him a description of the person who she saw at the door.

"Walters drove to his neighborhood and, en route, called [other Delaware State] troopers and other police departments for assistance," the district attorney said, in a statement.

As Walters searched for teens in his neighborhood, he met with officers from Newport who responded to assist and, they then went to the home of the 17-year-old that had a verbal altercation with Walters days before and, officials said, Walters injured the boy after forcing him to the ground.

Later, Walters head that the 15-year-old boy was found by other officers in the area, and the District Attorney's office said he drove to that location and "almost immediately upon arriving" to where the teen was detained by police along Taft Avenue, Walters dropped his knee into the back of the child's head and neck, causing the teen to scream in pain.

When the teen was placed in a police vehicle, the district attorney's office said that Walters turned off his body worn camera, walked to the back of the vehicle and struck the boy in the face, fracturing the teen's eye socket.

Then, Walters walked around the vehicle and turned his body worn camera back on.

“As a mother and grandmother, the footage in this case is hard to watch. As a prosecutor, the constitutional violations are stunning,” said Attorney General Kathy Jennings, in a statement. “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."

Walters has been suspended without pay, officials said.