A cellphone video of a police stop has gone
viral, with a police officer shown telling a couple during a routine traffic
stop that he will send their 2-week-old baby to child protective services if
they don’t get out of the car.
By: Stephen A. Crockett Jr.
A video has gone viral of a couple being
arrested for obstruction during a traffic stop in which an Ohio police officer
appears to give a series of conflicting stories as to the reason for the stop.
On Wednesday, Kathryn Said, 30, of Taylor,
Mich., and Andre Stockett, 34, of Huron, Ohio, were driving with their
2-week-old baby when police pulled them over and asked for Said's license. She
obliged, but something didn't feel right to Stockett, who flipped on his
cellphone camera and started recording the incident, according to the Sandusky
Register.
Police found that Said's information checked
out, but instead of returning to her side of the vehicle, an officer approached
Stockett's side.
That is where the situation took a turn.
According to the police report viewed by the
Sandusky Register, Officer Christopher Denny said that he had seen Said pick up
Stockett from an apartment complex and that he believed Stockett to be Jeremy
Newell, a man wanted on felony warrants.
The cellphone video shows Denny asking for
Stockett's ID and Stockett refusing, stating that he didn't need to show ID
because he hadn't done anything wrong. The officer then asks him to step out of
the car, a request that Stockett also refuses, indicating that Said was pulled
over for a minor traffic violation.
Stockett asks the officer why they have been
stopped, and several viewings of the video seem to provide several different
answers. First the officer claims that Said was driving without her lights on,
to which Stockett replies, "But it isn't even dark." The camera seems
to clearly show the sun beaming behind the officer. The officer then again asks
Stockett to step out of the car, and the following exchange can be heard:
Stockett: "No, for what?"
Denny: "Cause you look exactly like a
person that has warrants, OK?"
Stockett: "But that's not me."
At this point the officer can be heard
referring to Stockett as "Mr. Newell."
"I'm not Mr. Newell ... I have done
nothing wrong, you have no probable cause, I'm not coming outside the car, I'm
scared for my life," Stockett says. "I haven't done anything wrong, I
haven't broken the law ... I don't have to get out the car, I don't have to
tell you who I am."
"It's a lawful stop, understand that.
You match the exact description," Denny can be heard on the video saying.
"It doesn't matter, I'm not him,"
Stockett replies.
Denny threatens Stockett with arrest for
obstruction. Stockett replies, "Obstruction for what?"
Denny then has a canine unit run around the
car to sniff for narcotics. Stockett can be heard on the tape saying that he
doesn't have a right to do this, to which the officer replies that he can
because of Said's nervousness and Stockett's refusal to show his license. The
couple are upset by this, with Said heard saying that she isn't nervous at all.
The officer claims that the dog has a
"hit" on the car and that he is going to need both of them to step
out of the vehicle. Stockett then informs the officer that he has a 2-week-old
baby in the backseat, to which the officer replies that the baby will be given
to child protective services.
The video shows a visibly upset Said exiting
the vehicle, with Stockett following shortly thereafter. The cellphone is
dropped and the recording ends.
The Sandusky Register has spoken with the
Sandusky Police Department about the incident, and authorities are supporting
the officer and believe that his claim of probable cause checks out. They point
out that during the call to run Said's license, Denny asks about the wanted man
Jeremy Newell, saying that that proves the officer believed Stockett to be a
person with warrants.
Sandusky Assistant Police Chief Phil Frost
told the Register that the sun that appears to be seen in the video isn't the
sun but is instead the flash from Stockett's camera. Frost also said that the
officer had probable cause to have a police dog sniff around the car because
Said seemed "nervous" and Stockett refused to produce a license—and
that was enough to warrant a search.
Frost said that the officer's mention of
child protective services was not a threat, but he did speak with his officers
about this.
"I don't look at [the mention of
children's services] as a threat; I would rather it not be taken as a
threat," Frost told the newspaper. "Could that ultimately happen to
someone being arrested? Yes ... we do not want to displace a child from their
mom or parent. They were counseled on their use of that last evening. I don't
like the way it was used personally, and it was already addressed."
Both Stockett and Said were arrested and
charged with obstruction. No drugs were found in the car. Stockett told the
Register that he didn't know what was going to happen next, but he planned to
fight the charge of obstruction.
"It was so unprofessional,"
Stockett said. "I tried to compose myself as long as I could ... my girl
takes the baby out of the car, and they search the car seat. I'm sitting in a
police car, and I can't do nothing about that. He's 2 weeks old. I don't know
where it goes from here."