An Indianapolis man was injured after he says he was profiled, then assaulted by a security officer outside his own apartment complex. Now he’s considering taking legal action.
Resident Jaquon Dean said he was sitting in his car outside his apartment building Saturday when a security guard approached and asked if he lived there, RTV6 reported. That’s when Dean said the guard demanded to know his name and called for backup when he refused to answer his questions.
“He’s there every day, so he knows I live there,” he said of the officer, identified as James Reynolds. Reynolds works a courtesy officer for the complex.
Jaquon Dean says he was harassed by security officer James Reynolds for sitting in his car outside his Indianapolis apartment. (Twitter video screenshot)
Video of the incident, filmed by Dean, shows Reynolds approach the young man’s car and accuse him of loitering. He then repeatedly demands to see Dean’s ID, which Dean refuses to hand over until officers explain what crime has been committed.
“Do you have ID on you?” an officer with the Southport Police Department who arrived on the scene asks. “You can go to jail for not ID’ing yourself. You have to identify yourself to a law enforcement officer.”
“No, I do not,” Dean responds. “If you’re just sitting in your car you don’t have to show your ID.”
Indiana law says differently, however. The law states that when an officer believes you’ve committed a crime and you refuse to identify yourself, you’re committing another crime. Still, Dean insists he wasn’t doing anything wrong in the first place.
Police arrested Dean on charges of resisting arrest and refusing to identify, according to the station. The young man said he suffered a nerve injury during his altercation with the cops. At one point in the video, officers are seen pulling Dean from his car and forcing his hands behind his back. An officer is heard yelling for him to “stop tensing up!” before the camera falls to the ground. The cop then steps on the lens, making the screen go dark.
“I have no feeling in my hand,” Dean told RTV6.
The news station said it was later able to confirm that Dean was indeed a resident of the apartment complex where the incident took place.
As for Reynolds, he declined to comment on the matter, citing the ongoing investigation. According to RTV6, Reynolds runs his own security company, Reynolds Security Consulting Corp., and also serves as a reserve officer for the city of Sheridan. He’s currently running for a seat on the Hendricks County Council.
Documents show he was terminated from Indiana’s Marion County Sheriff’s Office in 2013.
Watch more in the video below.
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