*Police in Plano, Texas have dropped a charge against a Black teen who was arrested for walking in the middle of the street to avoid the icy pavement.
According to the DailyMail, Rodney Reese, 18, was arrested on February 16 and charged with being a pedestrian in the roadway. He was walking home from a shift at Walmart when police confronted him. When the teen refused to disclose his name and home address, he was arrested. Reese spent a night in jail before the charge of being a pedestrian in the roadway was dropped.
“There’s a lot information that we know about this case that we didn’t know at the time,” Local police chief Ed Drain told KDFW-TV. “Those officers didn’t know his age. They didn’t know he was 18. They didn’t know he worked at Walmart. They didn’t know where he lived.”
Reese told the station that he thinks his race led to his arrest.
“Just ‘cause I’m Black, that’s it,” he said. “I don’t think the call would’ve happened [if I wasn’t Black]. Honestly, I really don’t.”
Check out the video report above.
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Plano police were called to perform a welfare check on the teen after a caller reportedly noted that Reese was wearing short-sleeves, shorts, and was stumbling in freezing temperatures. The police department said they were concerned he was having a mental health crisis.
As reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, bodycam video of the incident shows police following Reese for several minutes while trying to speak to him.
“Dude, stop we are trying to help you,” says an officer, per Complex.
“I’m trying to get home,” Reese responds.
An officer says, “All right, but you’re walking in the middle of the road.”
“I understand that. My bad,” Reese responds.
“Are you cold?” an officer asks him.
“No. I’m not,” he says.
An officer then asks, “Do you want us to give you a ride?”
Reese responds, “No. I do this every night.”
Reese reportedly told cops he was fine. The video shows him walking away until an officer puts him in handcuffs.
The arresting officer said Reese committed a Class B misdemeanor by resisting being detained. The police chief backed up the officers, but noted: “They should’ve taken him home, is where he should’ve gone.”
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