A known North Carolina party promoter said when police handcuffed him Saturday, August 17, at his own home accusing him of burglarizing the place it was “one of the most humiliating experiences” of his life.
Surveillance video from inside Kazeem Oyeneyin’s Raleigh home showed him in boxer shorts “staring down the barrel of a Raleigh police officer’s gun” after his house alarm accidentally went off, ABC affiliate WTVD reported.
Oyeneyin, who goes by Tim Boss, said the responding officer refused to believe he lived there.
“I was counting the seconds, because I thought he was going to kill me,” Oyeneyin told ABC News.
The officer was dispatched to Oyeneyin’s home after he said a friend stayed overnight and unknowingly set off the alarm when he left. Oyeneyin told WTVD he disengaged it and went back to sleep.
“I just laid back down, and all I heard was somebody screaming downstairs,” Oyeneyin told the news station. “So I grab my firearm because I don’t know what’s going on, and I run down the stairs, and it’s a cop.”
“If you’re inside, make yourself known,” the officer is seen on video screaming into Oyeneyin’s home.
Oyeneyin doesn’t appear in the surveillance video yet, but he is heard explaining to the officer that he has a firearm in his hand.
“Drop the gun. Drop the gun,” the officer said.
He did drop the weapon, which he has a concealed carry permit for, WTVD reported.
Another clip of the video showed the officer asking Oyeneyin to “come on out of the house.”
“I got on my drawers,” Oyeneyin responded.
“Turn around and face away from me,” the officer said.
“Why?” Oyeneyin responded with a cellphone in his hand.
The cop then, asked again.
“I didn’t do nothing,” Oyeneyin said.
The officer was seen on video asking Oyeneyin to put his hands behind his back, and Oyeneyin asked for a supervisor.
“They’re on the way now,” the officer responded.
As Oyeneyin was being handcuffed he asked the officer why this was happening.
“We got 4-4 alarm here. I got open door. I’m trying to make sure…” the officer explained.
“I just talked to the alarm people,” Oyeneyin said, cutting the cop off.
“I’m confused why he’s still talking,” Oyeneyin later told WTVD he was confused why the officer was still talking.
“He’s asking me if I have ID. I told you yeah. Let’s identify me and get me out of here. I was like, ‘I need a supervisor. I definitely need a supervisor here because this ain’t right,’” Oyeneyin said.
Wearing only his underwear, he was walked out of his home to a police car while officers searched his house, WTVD reported.
While he was sitting in the back of the car as police searched his house, a second sergeant whom he knew arrived at the scene and recognized him. That sergeant had Oyeneyin’s handcuffs removed and walked him back to his house.
The security video record that sergeant telling the other cops, “Tell everybody they need to come on out. This is the homeowner.”
Kerwin Pittman, a Raleigh community advocate, told the news station a lot of stories like this go untold.
“There’s no reason this man should have been pulled out of his own home, not asked for proper identification, and it’s progressed this far,” Pittman said.
Oyeneyin told WTVD he wants an apology.
“Being black could definitely be one the issues that’s the problem,” he said. I hope it’s not. But if that’s what it is, it just needs to be resolved.”
The police department is reviewing the officers’ actions, WTVD reported.
