A Moscow teenager was hospitalized with a concussion and a broken leg after what parents said was an unmotivated beating by cops — though police said Thursday that he was not manhandled and likely inflicted the injuries himself.
Sergei Vorotnikov, 17, was detained late Wednesday when talking to his beer-drinking friends on Ulitsa Marshala Biryuzova in northwestern Moscow, RIA-Novosti said, adding that the other teenagers fled the scene.
Vorotnikov was brought to a local police precinct, from which he was later taken away by an ambulance. His parents said the teenager, who was not drunk, was beaten up by patrol officers for asking why they were detaining him.
City police spokeswoman Natalya Uvarova denied all accusations, telling Interfax that the boy inflicted the head injury by scratching his head. She gave no account for the leg injury and the blunt abdominal trauma that Vorotnikov was also diagnosed with, but an unidentified police source told Lifenews.ru that the teenager likely broke his leg when jumping around in the precinct.
Police cited records by precinct surveillance cameras as proof. Three grainy clips released by Lifenews.ru show the alleged Vorotnikov walking without any apparent problems and talking on the phone and later being carried out on a stretcher.
Head of the Moscow police, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, said his agency may sue the media that reported the story for defamation, RAPSI reported. Meanwhile, city children's ombudsman Yevgeny Bunimovich said the police reports dismissing the story were too "hasty" and called for a more thorough investigation.