A Louisiana father was arrested after he cursed at his son in front of a police officer.
Kevin Mitchell was at a Walmart Neighborhood Market In the New Orleans suburb of Slidell with his wife and children on Feb. 21 to get some groceries. When his 4-year-old son attempted to get out of their vehicle, he almost hit a truck with the door.
“I told my son, ‘Don’t be doing that f*****g s**t,'” the father of five recalled to NBC News. Slidell police Capt. Kevin Swann was sitting in the truck and had an issue with Mitchell’s language.
“That’s when the officer let his window down and said, ‘You can’t be cursing like that.’ I said, ‘Sir, I’m talking to my children,’ and he kept saying, ‘Well, you can’t talk like that in Slidell.’ I said ‘Sir, I’m talking to my children,'” Mitchell told WDSU.
A video of the incident shows the men arguing.
“Call who the f**k you want to call. You better get the f**k on, b***h. You got me f****d up. These my motherf*****g kids,” Kevin said as the family walked into the store.
A second video caught the aftermath of the confrontation. When the Mitchell family was done shopping, they were confronted by several police officers. The patriarch was taken into custody and charged with disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor.
Mitchell believes the incident was blown out of proportion adding that the officer inflamed the situation instead of diffusing it. “The officer was already on 100 percent,” the father stated. “I kept telling him, ‘Dude, you’re picking with me.’ And he kept telling me what I can’t do in Slidell.
“It’s just outrageous about the way he reacted with the whole situation. I feel like if I say something wrong, you approach me as a man,” he said.
His wife, Jordan, doesn’t believe the video is an accurate representation of her husband.
“My husband is a great father. He’s been there since day one. He works very hard and gets up every day at 4 a.m. and goes to work. He’s a great father,” she said.
Slidell Police Chief Randy Fandal stands by the arrest.
“I am aware of the arrest in question and have reviewed the videos taken by Mr. Mitchell. There was more than enough probable cause to arrest Mr. Mitchell,” Fandal said in a statement. “At this time, based on what I have reviewed, the officers acted appropriately.” Fandal added that Mitchell was not arrested for the way to spoke to his son but for “causing alarm and distress to innocent bystanders.”
Mitchell filed a formal complaint against Swann and wants him fired from the force. He also wants the charges against him dropped.
“A policeman like that shouldn’t have a badge. I feel like a policeman like that shouldn’t work in the city of Slidell when you approach people in that manner,” Mitchell said. “And the way you approached my wife and asking her for her personal information of her children, should definitely lose his job.”
