I have a mild case of PTSD from an experience I had last year when I was pulled over for a busted tail light.
- It was the middle of the evening and I was just trying to get back home after a long shift cleaning tables at a steakhouse on the other side of town.
I was following all traffic laws but didn’t realize 1 of my tail lights was out. When the red and white lights started flashing in our rear view mirror, I immediately hit our brake pedal and started pulling onto the bend. But when I went to hand the cop my license and automobile registration, she ordered me out of my car and told me to lay on the ground. As I was laying on the asphalt at gunpoint by the first officer, the second got out of the cruiser and started rifling through my car. They accused me of trafficking drugs while I cried and pleaded with them that I wasn’t who they thought. I had no drugs or booze on me; in fact, the entire incident was a result of mistaken identity because of them racial profiling. When they realized they had the wrong guy, they acted as if nothing had happened and left the scene while I was still on the ground crying. I looked all over Detroit to find an attorney who would take our case against the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office regarding this horrible issue of police misconduct. I still think about the case on a weekly basis. I get fearful when I’m in my own car at night and wonder if I’ll get pulled over again for something small and then get pushed to the ground and a gun held to my head.