An update today to a story we ran yesterday about a teen who was struck by a beanbag round after an altercation with deputies at the Sheriff’s station fuel pumps Saturday. The teen’s mother, Sarah Wheaton, told Z107.7 News that Kamden Wheaton, 18, was struck in the face by the non-lethal round and taken to Desert Hospital in Palms Springs where he was admitted into the intensive care unit with severe facial injuries. She said Kamden, who she described as a “high-functioning autistic” had a broken jaw, seven broken teeth, and severe facial damage. Wheaton said that Kamden was a chronic runaway and went to the Sheriff’s station regularly where, she said, the staff there was familiar to him. Deputies who responded to a report of the teen hanging out near the Sheriff’s fuel pumps said he pulled out a knife and refused commands to drop the weapon and to stay seated. When another deputy arrived, the teen moved toward the second deputy and the deputies responded with the bean bag. Wheaton was taken to the hospital and later arrested for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon against a police officer.
