A Black Woman Jailed for Resisting Arrest Accuses Commerce, Texas Police of Alleged Racially Motivated Misconduct
A former Miss Black Texas U.S. Ambassador has accused the chief of police in Commerce, Texas of calling her a “black bitch” and forcing her to spend a night in jail, allegedly for the “crime” of being black. The different accounts from those involved in the May 20, 2017 incident indicate that the woman has likely incorrectly identified the police chief with respect to the pertinent happenings of that day. Because of the accusations, however, the police chief has been placed on administrative leave, pending the results of an objective investigation conducted by an outside entity. On the advice of his attorney, the police chief has declined to comment and stated his intent to wait until the investigation is concluded. None of these procedures constitute an admission of guilt or wrongdoing.
The woman says the May 20 incident started when she was driving behind a black truck that was moving erratically on the road, accelerating and braking. The woman said she passed the truck and then went into the Walmart parking lot.
She alleges that the driver of the black truck pulled up next to her vehicle. She says the passenger, who she referred to as the police chief, got out of the truck and yelled at her, saying she should not have passed the truck. He allegedly said he was teaching his 14-year-old to drive. She said that at first she ignored the man and then turned and yelled that it’s illegal, what he had been doing. She accuses the man of allegedly saying “whatever” and then calling her a “black bitch.”
Next the woman says she made a purchase in Walmart and then was charged by several plain clothes officers when she went back outside. One showed her his badge and allegedly said to apologize to the police chief, which she declined to do. She alleges that an officer grabbed her and pulled her into the Walmart and advised her that she was being detained.
When additional officers arrived, the woman walked back to her vehicle for the purpose of explaining what happened. It was at that time that an officer demanded she be jailed for resisting arrest, and he allegedly grabbed her, allegedly causing bruises.
The woman was handcuffed and taken to jail on a charge of evading detention or arrest. She spent 24 hours in jail.
A lawsuit has been threatened, charging the police chief with an alleged civil rights violation in her arrest, even if he wasn’t the man in the black truck who allegedly addressed her with a racial slur.
–Guest Contributor
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