Iloputaife ( photo via Pam Kragen/San Diego Union-Tribune)
A California man woke up to a press release that displayed his picture as a person of interest in a burglary all because of his skin color.
Ike Iloputaife was walking his two Borzoi dogs down a Vista neighborhood in the morning May 16 and ended up in surveillance photos exuded by the Sheriff’s department six days later.
Several hours after the Nigerian man walked Lars and Luvkiy, a robbery occurred at a Monte Vista home which identified three Black men as the burglars. Images from the surveillance footage also verified a possible person of interest and it happened to be Iloputaife who was walking his pets.
A woman who lived on the same block where the theft happened told investigators that she noticed “a stranger” walk down her neighborhood and took a photo of him when he walked past her house. The anonymous woman reported the picture of Ioputaife to authorities.
The press release compared him to Suspect 2 who’s 6’5 and 260 pounds, but the 55-year-old is only 5’9 and 195 pounds. The only common characteristic the two men have are being Black.
“In this person’s head I became a person of interest because of my skin color,” Iloputaife told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Asking to call the police on a Black person in this highly charged political and cultural environment can be a danger for the Black person.”
The Nigerian man said the incident is disturbing and shocking, but the Sheriff’s Department has since removed his photo as a person of interest.
Iloputaife said he’s not interested in suing but definitely cares about clearing his reputation.
“I hate courts and have never sued anyone in my life. All I want from them [Police department] is an apology saying ‘we screwed up and we’re sorry,’” he exclaimed.
