Phoenix Police Dept. releases surveillance video before officers pulled guns on Black family
Dravon Ames and his pregnant fiancee, Iesha Harper and their two daughters survived the ordeal.
Phoenix police released three surveillance videos of a Black family in a local Family Dollar store had guns pointed at them when officers accused them of stealing.
Phoenix Police Department have released three surveillance videos related to the now-viral incident involving officers holding a Black father and his family at gunpoint accusing their 4-year old child of stealing from a local Family Dollar store on May 27.
The videos show the father, Dravon Ames, 22, his pregnant fiancée, Iesha Harper, 24, their two daughters and another woman, Renita Lynn Biscoe, in the store last month, according to AZ Central.
Police are accusing the 4-year-old daughter of allegedly walking out of the dollar store with a $1 Baby Alive doll and the father for stealing a pack of underwear.
In one video, Biscoe is seen holding a box aluminum foil with Harper and the daughter near the cash register at the front of the store. The child can be seen walking to another aisle in the store and returning with a box that contained the doll, but Biscoe is reportedly seen telling the girl to put the doll back on the shelf.
Biscoe puts the box of aluminum foil back before walking out of the store with the little girl following behind her still holding the doll.
The other video released by police shows Ames allegedly holding a pack of underwear, but he is not seen with the package when he turns back in front of the camera.
The last video shows the family stopped by police in a nearby parking lot after an employee informed Officer Nicholas Welch about the items that were allegedly stolen.
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Video recorded by a witness shows an officer yelling profanities at the couple, and threatening Ames’ with a gun to his face for allegedly stealing the items while another is pointing a gun at the rest of the family.
“You’re going to get f–king shot!” one officer is clearly seen shouting.
In the footage, you can also see an officer trying to grab one of Harper’s two daughters from her arms as he attempts to arrest her. Harper refused to put her child down on the pavement and comply with police orders.
Ames and Harper are now calling for the officers to be arrested and Sandra Slaton, the lawyer who represents the family, believes the accusations hurled against the family are now “irrelevant” due to the “unjustified” actions of the officers.
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“Whether he stole underwear or not … are you kidding me that this would justify police brutality?” Slaton, said during a recent news conference.
Slanton also made it clear that Ames’ prior arrests from 2018 for assaulting two police officers has nothing to do with this incident. Plus, he pled not guilty to the charges.
Apparently, the Phoenix police are currently reviewing the officers’ behavior.
Grio fam, what do you think should happen to these two officers? Tell us below.
