Report: Police Handcuff Autistic Boy in North Laurel

Howard County school officials are conducting an inquiry into the police handcuffing of a North Laurel autistic boy who reportedly bit several students on a school bus.

The incident happened along a route near the intersection of Whiskey Bottom Road and All Saints Road on Wednesday, reports The Baltimore Sun.

According to police, an 11-year old autistic boy, who does not speak and has limited social skills, escaped from his harness on the bus and began biting several students. The bus driver called 911 and when officers arrived they tried to restrain the boy.

"An officer tried to restrain the boy and ultimately placed him in handcuffs for his own safety and the safety of the others on the bus," Sherry Llewellyn, a police spokeswoman, told the Sun. "The use of handcuffs is determined by the potential danger of the person to himself or someone else.”

Two students, the bus driver and aide, received minor injuries, according to the Sun, but were not taken to the hospital.