On the morning of May 16, 55-year-old San Diego, California, resident Ike Iloputaife was walking his two dogs when a white man thwarted his whole life.

Iloputaife's image would be released six days later by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department in search of three suspects regarding a robbery in his neighborhood, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Unbeknownst to him, a burglary where rifles, handguns and a safe were stolen took place about seven hours after his usual walk. A woman who lived in proximity to the home snapped a photo of him and the dogs even though Iloputaife was not involved in the robbery whatsoever.

“In this person’s head I became a person of interest because of my skin color,” Iloputaife wrote on the Nextdoor app. “Asking to call the police on a black person in this highly charged political and cultural environment can be a danger for the black person.”

The woman who snapped the photo shared it with investigators.

Investigators claimed Iloputaife was “similar to Suspect 2 in the burglary,” but that was far from the truth. The suspect was described as being between 20 to 35 years old, 6 feet to 6-feet-5 and weighing 260 pounds. Iloputaife is much shorter coming in at 5 feet, 9 inches; older at age 55 and weighs less at 195 pounds.

“With a crime where we have no leads other than surveillance footage, we’re going to look at all information that comes in as a potential lead,” Lt. Jack Reynolds said. “Are they going out to do surveillance on potential targets, maybe sending someone out on foot?”

Reynolds hoped neighbors would recognize the dogs, not the owner. Iloputaife and his partner, Jim Watson, did not learn about the press release and photo until after they returned from vacation May 25. The picture made its way to sdcrimestoppers.com and local news outlets further ruining his good name.

“They took this extreme action on such little information,” Watson said. “I believe in Neighborhood Watch and communities looking out for themselves. But they need to think seriously about what it’s like to…make someone a suspect with so little information.”

Since the start of June, Iloputaife has been sending numerous emails and making calls to get the photo removed from local outlets and sdcrimestoppers.com. He said officers weren't necessarily helpful in his quest to reclaim his good name. While friends have suggested filing a lawsuit, he wants his life back.

“I hate courts and have never sued anyone in my life. All I want from them is an apology saying, ‘We screwed up and we’re sorry,’” Iloputaife said.

Ike Iloputaife

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