A trip to the grocery store to purchase some fruit resulted in a Florida father being hospitalized after an interaction with police.
Anjelica, Joseph Lee’s daughter, described the incident that led to him being on dialysis and suffering an acute kidney injury, NBC News reported. It happened last month while they were washing clothes at a laundromat in Lakeland, about 36 miles from Tampa.
The 55-year-old went to a nearby Save A Lot store on Jan. 23 to get some bananas because his body was cramping from an infection, Anjelica told NBC. The potassium from the banana helped relieve his symptoms, so he grabbed four of them while in the store.
Anjelica told the outlet that while walking to the register, her father ate one of the bananas but told the cashier that he needed to pay for four. Despite this, another employee, who was white, claimed he was stealing.
Lee denied the accusation, but the employee started to follow him outside, which prompted Anjelica to confront her. According to the report, the employee allegedly said: “People like you and him shouldn’t come into the store if you don’t have money to pay for things.”
The employee called law enforcement when she saw Anjelica grab a bat from her car, although she noted that she didn’t threaten her but knocked items off of the shelves with her hands.
According to arrest affidavits obtained by Atlanta Black Star, when police responded to a report of a woman with a bat accompanied by a man, Anjelica was sitting inside her vehicle while Lee was standing outside on the sidewalk when cops arrived.
“The police got out with their guns drawn, repeatedly saying, ‘Get out of the effin’ car,’” Anjelica told NBC News. “My dad said to me: ‘Don’t get out of the car until they can fully see you, because they’re going to shoot.’ And after he said that, nine or 10 of them jumped on him, and then they slammed him on the car.”
Lakeland Police Department spokesperson Stephanie Kerr told Atlanta Black Star that the officers told Lee to back up several times, but he refused to comply, resisted the officers’ attempts to handcuff him, and “was placed against the hood of a vehicle to obtain control of his person.”
“During efforts to handcuff Mr. Lee, Anjelica struck the arresting officer. Only one officer was needed to handcuff Mr. Lee,” Kerr said in an email to Atlanta Black Star.
Anjelica said she overheard her father, who has a pacemaker, repeatedly tell the officers that he was struggling to breathe.
Lakeland Police say Lee didn’t show any signs of physical distress when he was placed in the patrol vehicle.
“After approximately five minutes, officers checked on Mr. Lee and asked if he needed anything. He spoke with the officer and did not complain of any physical discomfort but asked for their cards,” Kerr said.
However, Kerr said Lee complained of chest pain and requested medical assistance based on a previous medical condition about five and a half minutes later. The officers sought him medical assistance. Lee was “alert and responsive” when an ambulance responded within a few minutes of the call, Kerr said.
Yet, Anjelica said her father’s injuries were severe.
“He doesn’t know where he’s at. He can no longer feed himself,” she said to NBC News. “We have to do that for him. They’re saying that some of the injuries could be long-term.”
Lee was charged with resisting officers without violence after police said he was “interfering” with their investigation when he didn’t comply with their orders to step away from the car, per the outlet.
A representative for Save A Lot said they are working with police on the investigation. Anjelica was also taken into custody and was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, the arrest documents show. She reportedly denies all allegations against her.
The Lakeland Police spokesperson said the incident was captured on body-camera video but would not be released until after both cases have been processed through the criminal justice system.
“We are aware of Anjelica’s allegations. There were no firearms drawn, there was no protective action (OC or Pepper Spray, Baton or Taser) used with Mr. Lee, and at no time was Mr. Lee placed on the ground,” Kerr said.
