In June, a teenager from Delaware was arrested for jaywalking, which left him surprised and confused. Although the charges against him were eventually dismissed by a judge, his mother strongly believes that her son should never have been detained by the officers in the first instance.
During an interview with Delaware Online, Paula Wright expressed her dissatisfaction towards the treatment her 17-year-old son received. According to her, the local police are the main problem and have been treating her son unfairly. She went on to state that she believes the police force is unhinged and even referred to them as the biggest gang in Delaware.
Video footage captured by a teenager shows that on June 8 in the afternoon, an incident occurred in the Dunlieth community while Wright’s son was walking with his friends. In the recording, an officer pulls up and steps out of his car to confront the group, leading to a heated exchange.
The officer sternly commands the group, “Stop it, you guys, stop.” The teenager questions the officer’s authority, asking, “Why are you stopping me?” The officer repeats his order with firmness, stating, “I’m telling you to stop.”
The teenager persists, “Why are you stopping me?” The officer warns, “If you don’t stop, you’re going to be detained right now.” Undeterred, the teen asks once more, “What’s the reason for detaining me? Please tell us.”
As the teen walks down the street, a police officer calls out to him, instructing him to stop and relax. The officer proceeds to tell the teen that he is being stopped for a pedestrian violation and asks if he has any identification on him. The teen remains curious and asks for clarification on what exactly the violation is.
As the teen continues to ask questions, the officer appears to become increasingly annoyed. With a tone of frustration, the officer instructs the teen to turn around and place their hands behind their back before proceeding to handcuff them. Despite objections from those around the teen, the officer remains firm in their decision.
As the teen is being handcuffed, they inquire, “What am I being searched for?” The officer responds, “At this moment, you are being detained for not cooperating during a traffic stop.” The teen then questions, “But how can I be part of a traffic stop? I’m not even in a vehicle, sir.”
The officer refers to it as a “pedestrian stop” when the teenager inquires. However, when the teenager asks for further clarification on what a pedestrian stop entails, the officer responds aggressively, saying, “Do you want to keep quiet and let me explain it to you?… You violated the law by crossing the street outside the designated crosswalk.”
The officer asked the teen, “Can I see your ID, please?” The teen replied, “Oh, alright.” Then, the officer proceeded to ask for the teen’s name, but the video is censored, so it’s uncertain what he responded. The recording ended shortly after this interaction. As per the teen, the officer halted the recording.
Delaware Online reported that the teenager, who received a jaywalking ticket while his companions didn’t, revealed that his curiosity stemmed from his passion for law. He said, “To be honest, I was just curious.”
According to him, the officer questioned him about his brother, who has a criminal record, and mentioned that it had been a while since he last saw him. He further shared this with his mother.
During an interview, the teenager expressed confusion and shock in response to the officer’s comments. “I don’t understand if he thought it was going to get me angry or what he thought it was going to possibly do,” the teen stated. The incident had left a lasting impact on the teen, who was still processing the situation.
According to Wright, her son was singled out because of his brother’s identity.
“I believe my son is being targeted because of his brother’s reputation,” she expressed. “Had it not been for that, he wouldn’t have been the only one to receive a jaywalking citation.”
According to police officials, the officer engaged in “small talk” with the brother after recognizing his name from a previous encounter.
According to a police spokesperson, the officers had valid reasons to stop the teenagers.
Senior Cpl. Richard Chambers reported that the officers observed the group crossing New Castle Avenue without using a designated crosswalk. Furthermore, one of the individuals was seen running recklessly through active traffic, almost causing an accident.
According to the spokesperson, it was observed that one of the teenagers was holding onto his waistband as if he was dropping a weapon from his pants. However, it wasn’t specified whether the individual was Wright’s son or not.
Chambers further elaborated on the officers’ suspicions, stating that two individuals were spotted wearing hooded sweatshirts with the hoods up. This caught the officers’ attention, as it was around 80 degrees at the time.
According to Chambers, the reason why only Wright’s son was arrested among the group of teens is that the officer did not observe them running through traffic in a similar reckless manner as the arrested teen.
During a hearing on June 25, the charge was dropped.