A teenager who was stopped by police officers while walking down a street in Delaware is seen being arrested at random in alarming footage.
The 17-year-old was standing on the pavement with friends in the suburb of Dunleith on June 29 this year when the group noticed police officers preparing to approach them.
Perhaps sensing something wasn’t right, he pulled out his phone and began filming the interaction, capturing the moment two officers approached the group.
In the video, an officer can be heard aggressively demanding that they stop and identify themselves, but is reluctant to explain why. Within a minute, the teenager is arrested.
While the officer did take some form of revenge when a judge later dismissed the case, the teen’s mother has since called the officer’s conduct “absolutely unhinged.”
A black teenager from Delaware was stopped by police officers while walking down the street.
A group of black friends were walking down the street in Dunleith, a suburb of Wilmington, when they were stopped “at random.”
In the video, several patrol cars are seen pulling up next to the group of teenagers before an officer can be heard yelling: “Enough, guys, enough!”
When the teen asks why he is being stopped, the officer simply repeats his order: “I’m telling you to stop.”
“Why are you stopping me?” the teen asks again before the officer responds, “They’re going to arrest you right now if you don’t stop.”
The teenager can be heard asking for clarification for a third time: “Why are you trying to stop me? … Tell us,” he asks.
“Stop walking and relax… We are currently stopping you for a pedestrian violation,” the officer replies before asking you for identification.
“Pedestrian rape of what?” the teenager asks.
But the officer’s patience seems to be running out, quickly and without warning he immediately takes out his handcuffs to place the teenager under arrest.
—Okay, turn around and put your hands behind your back, the officer demands.
When asked why they were looking for him, the agitated officer simply says that they were detaining him as part of a “traffic stop.”
“At this time, you are being detained because you are not cooperating with a traffic stop,” the officer says.
But the explanation seems far-fetched to the teenager. “How is it possible that I’m stopped in traffic? I’m not in a vehicle, sir,” the teenager replies.
The officer explained it was a ‘traffic stop’ and then changed his mind and said it was a ‘pedestrian stop.’
Only one teenage member of the group was arrested by police and handcuffed.
Despite his arrest for jaywalking, it turns out the teen got the last laugh as a judge dismissed the charges against him.
“It’s called a pedestrian stop,” the officer replies.
But when the teen asks exactly what that means, the officer loses his patience.
“Will you just shut up and let me explain? You crossed the street without using the crosswalk.”
The teenager was the only one in his group of friends who received a fine.
Despite his arrest for jaywalking, it turns out the teen got the last laugh as a judge dismissed the charges against him.
“I don’t understand if he thought I was going to get angry or what he thought I would possibly do,” the teen told Delaware Online“I don’t know. I’m still in shock about it.”
The boy’s mother, Paula Wright, said the officer involved in the arrest was “unhinged.”
“I think they’re absolutely unhinged. To be honest, I think they’re the biggest gang in Delaware,” Wright said.
“What kind of attitude is that when the police officer gets out of the car and says: ‘Stop right there, give me your ID right now, I’m going to arrest you’?” he asks.
Police maintained they were right to detain the group of youths, saying they had been observed behaving in a “reckless” and “suspicious” manner.
“Officers witnessed the group running across New Castle Avenue without using a proper crosswalk. While crossing the street, one of the individuals was observed recklessly running into moving traffic, nearly resulting in a crash,” Senior Corporal Richard Chambers said in a statement.
Another teenager was said to be walking around holding his belt, possibly to give others the impression that he might be carrying a gun in his pants.
Officers also said two of the teens “were wearing hoodies with the hoods up,” which also made officers suspicious.
“Officers noted that this was unusual as it was approximately 80 degrees,” the statement said.
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