An Amazon delivery driver has been pinned to the ground and arrested after he parked the wrong way while dropping off a package in Michigan.
The driver – who is black – had taken the box to a resident in Warren on Tuesday when confronted by a patrol officer – who is white – about the parking offense.
The officer asked to see the man’s license but after the worker tried to reason with him, the cop pinned him to the ground.
‘Hey I’m getting my license!’ the Amazon employee is heard yelling before the cop makes the first contact.
Dashcam footage shows the cop saying to the delivery man: ‘Why are you on the wrong side of the road? You’re not Post Office, you don’t drive on the wrong side of the road.’
The pair disagree about whether the Amazon delivery service can be treated the same way as the postal service.
‘You gonna give me a ticket for this bulls**t?’ the driver asks the patrol officer.
‘I’m going to give you a whole lot more if you don’t get your license out,’ the patrol officer responds.
In a video filmed by a neighbor, the worker is seen trying to reason with the cop, telling him: ‘I delivered to her.’
‘I can attest to it, he put the box in my hand,’ said witness Diana Gouim.
‘And he was so polite to my neighbor, he offered to put it on the chair for her because it was heavy,’ Geri Cheatham, another resident said about the incident. ‘It was ridiculous for one little kid that was the size of me.’
A witness recording one of the videos of the man on the ground said at least seven officers were at the scene and more were arriving as he was taken into custody and police checked his truck.
‘From when my sister walked in the house and then walked back out, the cop had him on the ground and cuffed and was calling for back-up,’ said Jim Michael.
‘We, several of the neighbors, spoke with the officer saying the kid hasn’t done anything and the cop was like well, ‘He was parked the wrong way.”
Now police have recommended felony charges of resisting arrest, failure to obey a lawful command, and failure to provide a driver’s license, against the Amazon worker.
Cheatham added about the man’s struggle with the officer: ‘He was scared. He was scared. I don’t blame him. It could have gotten out of control totally.’
WATCH: Arrest of Amazon Delivery Man
Amazon is now looking into the incident and is supporting the driver.
‘We see what others see in this video, and it’s unacceptable,’ Deborah Bass, an Amazon spokesperson, said in a statement. ‘We expect a swift investigation and full accountability for those involved. Amazon will deploy all necessary resources to investigate the matter with our Delivery Service Provider, as well as to represent and support the driver.’
The clip has been viewed over 6,000 times and Warren Mayor Jim Fouts called for an officer to be fired in his initial Facebook post.
However he later deleted it and put up a new statement.
‘The previous post regarding an altercation was taken down at the request of the Warren Police Commissioner. I await further details based upon additional information,’ Fouts said. ‘I received several phone calls earlier regarding this incident requiring me to make a statement that any type of aggressive behavior is not tolerated. I was upset that one individual could possibly besmirch the fine reputation of Warren police officers.’
The day before the incident, Fouts had posted on Facebook that defunding police was a ‘no go’ in the wake of George Floyd’s death and subsequent protests around the country against police brutality and injustice in the African American communities.
‘This is a bad idea because we have an outstanding police department under Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer.’ Fouts had written on Facebook. ‘Warren Police Officers receive training in A)De-escalation B)Cultural Diversity C)Proper use of force techniques D)Proper decision making and use of lethal force.’
Commissioner Dwyer said in a press conference today that the cops probably could’ve let him off with a warning if he had didn’t argue back.
But he refused to answer whether the officer should have continued the arrest after the worker agreed to hand over his ID.
Officers need to learn to deescalate simple parking infraction, just an essential worker doing a hard job, as well!
Police officer had nothing better to do than pick on trivia and escalate because ego was bruised – any excuse to be violent