Ohio police 'break jaw and ribs of 12-year-old girl' after visit to swimming pool descends into chaos

Video showing white police officer slamming girl into squad car causes outrage - but police say they used 'great restraint' and that officers were attacked

Footage of the incident has been posted on YouTube

A black 12-year-old girl is said to have suffered a broken jaw and ribs after being arrested by a white police officer, prompting further outrage over the perceived attitude of American officers towards race.

In a video posted online, the officer, who has the girl in an arm-lock, is shown pushing the girl into the side of the side of the car while other officers detain other members of her family.

The arrests - at Fairfield Aquatic Centre, near Cincinnati, Ohio - have prompted further outrage at the police, following the resignation of an officer in Texas who was fillmed pulling a gun and slamming a black girl to the ground at a pool party in McKinney, Texas.

Now the family of the girl - who has not been named - are accusing the police of using excessive force and racism, something the police deny.

On 9 June, Krystal Dixon, 33, reportedly dropped off the girl, her niece, as well as her own children and other young relatives, at the pool.

The melee reportedly broke out because one of the children did not have a swimming costume - prompting staff to ask them to leave. Ms Dixon and three others were arrested after returning to the pool to give the boy some trunks.

Two adults were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, the Daily Beast reported. A 12-year-old girl was charged with assault and resisting arrest, while a 15-year-old was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Pepper spray was used during the arrests.

There are radically different accounts of what happened, with police claiming the family's behaviour was "aggressive and belligerent".

Bishop Bobby Hilton, a Cincinnati pastor who acting as spokesman for Dixon and her family, told the Daily Beast: “They’re saying a 12-year-old was assaulting somebody and resisting being arrested.

“Please tell me, where is she assaulting somebody? Why did the officer have to grab her by the neck and push her against the car? It’s just not right.”

But, in a transcript of the 911 call made by a staff member at the pool, the caller said: “Everything’s going crazy and they’re videotaping, trying to make it look like a racist thing and it’s not at all."

“They were breaking our policy and we told them they couldn’t be here anymore and it’s really scary and I don’t feel safe.”

And, according to Doug Day, a Fairfield Police Office quoted by the Daily Beast, the family "refused to leave and became even more verbally aggressive and belligerent" after being spoken to by a park ranger.

Then park ranger put his hand on Dixon, prompting the children to start jumping on his back, Day claimed. He said the injured 12-year-old girl was striking and pushing one of the officers.

He added: “Our officers used great restraint ... At one point, one of our officers felt his gun was being taken away from him. The only weapon he used was the OC spray, to get someone off the back of the officer.

“We completely support our officers in what they did."