A ride home from church turned dangerous for a Black Wisconsin teen and his white grandmother after two passersby thought he was robbing her and called the police.
Akil Carter, 18, found himself in handcuffs Sunday after a couple told a Wauwatosa Police officer that a young Black man was robbing to elderly white women, the Journal Sentinel reported. Carter was actually in the car with his grandmother and her friend, riding home after leaving church that day.
Akil Carter was briefly detained and questioned by police after someone accused him of robbery. (Wauwatosa Police / video screenshot)
According to Wauwatosa PD, an African-American couple had flagged down the officer and said a robbery was either in progress or had just occurred, adding that the suspect was in the backseat of a blue Lexus. The witnesses then pointed out the car to police.
Squad footage released by the department shows officers ordering Carter to his knees before placing him handcuffs and sitting him in the back of a squad car for questioning. Police Capt. Brian Zalewski said officers did draw their weapons but kept them aimed in a safe direction during the stop. At least one officer is seen drawing his gun in the video.
Zalewski explained officers did a “non-approach” traffic stop, during which one of the responding officers called Carter toward the officers rather than the officers approach Carter’s car, local station KDSK reported.
After detaining the young man for six minutes, police quickly realized there had been a misunderstanding. In a separate video, Carter is heard explaining that the woman in the car is his grandmother and the woman driving the car is her friend.
The grandmother also tries clearing things up for officers.
“I’m sure he (the person who reported it) saw two white ladies in a car with a black kid and he made some assumptions,” she says.
When an officer informed her it was a Black couple who’d made the robbery claim, she responded, “that’s even worse.”
Authorities have since apologized for the incident. As for the couple who reported it, police say they left by the time officers arrived and have yet to be located for a formal statement.
Carter now has a lawyer, who says her client was harassed by police. Attorney Joy Bertrand said she’s already asked Wauwatosa PD to hand over any and all documents related to the stop and the reasoning for the stop. She said she has also filed a document-preservation demand ordering police not to destroy anything from the incident, including notes, text messages and dispatch reports.
“After we take a look at whatever basis they have for stopping and harassing this family, we will be able to comment further,” Bertrand told the newspaper.
Watch more in the video below.
