Michael Bernard was washing dishes inside his Michigan home when he asked his 12-year-son to take out the garbage two years ago.
But when Tashawn Bernard did not return after several minutes, the father became worried and stepped outside to look for his son, finding him in handcuffs surrounded by several Lansing police officers, accusing the boy of matching the description of another Black male suspected of stealing cars.
“You always use that as an excuse,” the agitated father was heard saying in direct confrontation with the officer insisting the teen “fit the description.”
However, the other Black male was an adult who happened to be wearing neon shorts like Tashawn Bernard but with a white T-shirt, according to a lawsuit filed last month in federal court, seeking damages for the trauma inflicted upon the boy. The boy was wearing a bluish-gray shirt.
“When it happened, I was really, like, shocked and frightened about like the situation, and how it happened,” Tashawn Bernard said in an interview that aired on “Good Morning America” less than a week after the incident.
According to the lawsuit obtained by Atlanta Black Star:
Tashawn has increasing difficulty interacting with police authority figures and is frightened by them when they are in his vicinity.
As a result of the incident, Tashawn has experienced panic/anxiety attacks, difficulty sleeping and required counseling to address residual symptoms from the trauma caused by Defendants.
The lawsuit filed by the Michigan-based law firm Grewal Law PLLC accuses the two officers who detained him of unreasonable search and seizure, false arrest, negligence, assault and battery and excessive force.
Also listed as defendants are the city of Lansing and its former police chief, Ellery Sosebee, accusing them of inadequate training, especially when it comes to Black kids. And especially because the suspect they were looking for was a grown man.
“It was determined that LPD was looking for a black adult male in a white t-shirt and lime green shorts,” the lawsuit states.
Lansing police have made no mention whether they ever arrested the real suspect they had been looking for that day.
Watch the video below.
‘It Ain’t Him’
The incident took place on Aug. 10, 2023, after police confronted the real suspect they had been looking for but he ran away from them, prompting a chase with several cops in several patrol cars.
Police blurred the man’s face in the body camera videos but we can see he was wearing similar colored shorts that Tashawn Bernard was wearing but also a white t-shirt.
About 20 minutes later, Lansing police officer Damon Culver came across Tashawn Bernard who had just placed a garbage bag into a dumpster in the parking lot of the apartment complex where he lived with his family.
Culver pulled out his gun and ordered him to place his hands behind his back and handcuffed him. Then Lansing police officer Stacey Myers arrived and placed the handcuffed boy in the back of a patrol car. These are the cops listed as defendants in the lawsuit.
“What did I do?” the boy asked while crying as he was being led in handcuffs to the back of the patrol car.
However, the lawsuit states the body camera video released by the Lansing Police Department includes portions where the audio has been removed, so we unable to hear the entire conversation of the initial detainment.
Defendant Pulver spoke to Tashawn, but the Officer’s body cam video released to Tashawn’s family is missing vital minutes that would contain Defendant Pulver’s confrontation and conversation with Tashawn.
Defendant Pulver’s gun was unholstered at the time he gave those commands to Tashawn.
Defendant Pulver then put handcuffs on Tashawn’s wrists, behind his back, and began walking Tashawn back to his police vehicle for questioning.
Meanwhile, the boys’s father, Michael Bernard, was infuriated, knowing his child had not committed a crime, demanding to know why they had handcuffed his son.
A few minutes later, another cop informs Meyer they have detained the wrong Black person, which is when Meyer has him step out of the patrol car.
“It ain’t him” the cop tells Meyer. “Same colored shorts.”
But considering they had just been speaking to the real suspect less than 30 minutes earlier, they should have known there was a significant age difference.
Defendant Pulver knew that Tashawn did not match the description of the suspect the LPD was searching for related to the stolen cars when he put him in handcuffs and walked back for interrogation.
Pulver’s body cam video released did not contain the minutes when he confronted and questioned Tashawn and/or explained why he was being handcuffed.
Once the handcuffs were removed, Myers tried to explain why he had been detained.
“Remember how I told you you have somebody matching the same description?” she asked.
“Unfortunately, you were at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Departmental Policy Violation
The lawsuit points out that handcuffing the boy was a clear violation of departmental policy in how to detain children younger than 13 years of age which states the following:
The handcuffing of youths under the age of thirteen (13) requires approval from LPD 61 command unless (1) there are exceptional and exigent circumstances directly related to an 62 officer’s or youth’s safety, (2) if there is a court order or (3) there are other circumstances 63 to be considered, based upon clearance of a supervisor.
The lawsuit also points out a study that determined of all the juveniles arrested by the Lansing Police Department in 2020, 83 percent were Black even though they only make up 28 percent of the population.
The incident was recorded by a witness who posted it on TikTok where it went viral, becoming national news, prompting an apology from the police chief, according to the Lansing State Journal.
“As the Chief of Police, I want to apologize that this incident had such an effect on this young man and his family,” said former chief Sosebee.
Lansing Mayor Andy Schor also issued a statement with an apology.
“The Lansing Police Department made a mistake in detaining the wrong person during a vehicle theft investigation,” he said.
“The young man was wearing the exact same clothing as the suspect, however it was quickly confirmed he was not the suspect in question and he was released. I join Chief Sosebee in offering my apologies to the young man and to his family.”
But the boy’s father told CNN he would not accept the apology.
“I will never accept an apology,” Michael Bernard said.
“My son did not deserve to be treated the way they treat(ed) him. No way, no shape or form. Justice for my son. That’s all I want. Nothing else.”
Great Job Carlos Miller & the Team @ Atlanta Black Star Source link for sharing this story.
