12-year-old handcuffed by Montreal police says he 'felt terrified,' father plans to sue

When Ammaar Kashif's father asked him to hop in an exotic car, flip on the ignition and roll up the window during his uncle's wedding in Montreal, he didn't have to be asked twice.

But about 30 seconds after he turned the car on, a police cruiser, light bar ablaze, flew onto the scene. Kashif's arm was twisted behind his back, he was handcuffed and then locked in the rear of the officer's car.

Kashif is only 12 years old. He said the officer didn't tell him what was going on.

"It hurt," he said. "I felt terrified. And the handcuffs really hurt my hands."

The incident occurred on May 9 at around 8:30 p.m., and Kashif said his dreams of one day becoming a police officer were dashed that day. Now he hates them, he said, and the incident "still terrifies me."

The boy's father, Kashif Inayat, said he is going to sue.

Recounting the story, emotion crept into Inayat's voice. He said his family was dressed in traditional Pakistani attire for the wedding.

To spice things up, they had rented a couple of Lamborghinis and an Audi R8 for the event, Inayat said.

The cars were parked in front of the reception hall, and the family was posing for photos when "I noticed one of the car's windows was down. So I asked my son to take the keys and put the window up."

Inayat said that's when a police officer rolled up, hopped out of his cruiser and told the family, about 25 people, to stay back, Inayat said.

The officer approached the vehicle, and the concerned father tried to intervene.

The officer told him there had been complaints of somebody doing doughnuts and driving recklessly, Inayat recounted.

"I told him, 'Sir, he's my son. He's 12 years old, and I can identify him on my behalf,'" he said.

"He doesn't listen. He twists my son's arm, puts him in handcuffs, calls for reinforcements and brings my son to his car."