Police in Charlotte, North Carolina, have released footage of officers mistakenly arresting a Black teacher in her driveway back in June.
On June 14, the educator, only identified as J. Horne, was in her driveway inside of her vehicle when at least 10 police cars arrived and surrounded her, WCNC reports.
In the video, officers can be heard telling Horne to "put your hands up" as they pointed their guns, according to WSOC-TV.
“Got anything in your shoes or anything? No weed, nothing like that?” one of the officers asked.
“I don’t smoke. I’m a school teacher. I don’t understand what’s going on,” Horne replied.
Horne recalled the incident, saying she was "ambushed by the police” and was "already sitting in my car in front of my house when they stopped me and they followed me.”
Horne said she was unaware of why she was being surrounded by officers outside of her home. WSOC-TV reports that officers were looking for a suspect who shared a similar name with the teacher.
“[The cop] never asks me for my driver’s license or registration until he handcuffed me and put me in the back of the car,” she said, according to WCNC. “I’m just confused, what’s going on? I have a clean record. I’m a school teacher.”
“‘Get out of the car, get out of the car, get out now,'" Horne recalled of the officer's command, according to WSOC-TV. "And I’m like, ‘What?’ No ‘can I see your license and registration?’ No ‘excuse me ma’am.’ None of that,” she said.
Police handcuffed the teacher and placed her in a patrol car.
“I thought I was going to die or they were going to put something in my car that wasn’t there," Horne told WCNC. "At that point, the damage was done and I was already traumatized."
Horne was later informed of what led to her arrest and was told that on June 13 a man was stabbed by a woman whose name was similar to Horne's. Once a name search was conducted, police used a Licensed Plate Reader system to help identify the car the woman drove.
Horne was released 15 minutes after being handcuffed and given a simple "sorry" once police realized they had the wrong suspect. Now, Horne is seeking justice for her false arrest.
The second-grade teacher sent emails to Vi Lyles, the mayor of Charlotte, and the internal affairs bureau for the police department.
Johnny Jennings, chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, has been in contact with Horne. However, he said the officers were “justified in trying to take a dangerous criminal off the street.”
“We have to think about the effects that it has on those we come in contact with, so [Horne] who had the mistaken identity was mistaken for the suspect, was traumatized, and we can’t forget that,” Jennings said in statement.
