A Fort Worth man was found guilty of assaulting an 8-year-old boy Wednesday and will pay a $569 fine and serve community service.
Itamar Vardi was at the center of a series of incidents that ultimately ended in the arrest of the boy's mother, Jacqueline Craig, and protests and debate over whether the officer's actions that day were motivated by racism. Video of Craig's arrest went viral and the office, William Martin, given a 10-day suspension.
It all started when Vardi confronted Craig's son after the young boy allegedly threw litter near his home in December of 2016. Children testified in court Tuesday that the litter was raisins that fell from a bag when it was thrown by the boy to his brother.
One of the witnesses said Vardi demanded the boy pick up the raisins. When the young boy paused, Vardi grabbed him by the neck and forced him to pick them up, the witness continued.
Wednesday, Vardi was found guilty of the assault and given two choices - pay a lower fine of $269 or deferred adjudication, with a higher fine and 100 hours of community service. Vardi chose the latter.
Vardi admitted that back in December of 2016 he touched the child on the shoulder but said he didn't do it in an "offensive manner" and couldn't tell if the child was offended.