Charles Belk wrongly arrested for being black and bald?

[KrustyKrabella]

Charles Belk is a TV producer who was visiting Beverly Hills for the weekend for the Emmys. He went out to feed a parking meter, and was immediately arrested for robbing a CitiBank.

Black TV Producer, Charles Belk, Arrested By Beverly Hills Cops Who Thought He Robbed A Bank

Here's his Facebook post of the incident:

WHEN YOU "FIT THE DESCRIPTION"!It’s one of those things that you hear about, but never think it would happen to you.On Friday afternoon, August 22nd around 5:20pm, while innocently walking by myself from a restaurant on Wilshire Blvd, to my car up LaCienega Blvd my freedom was taken from me by the Beverly Hills Police Department.Within seconds, I was detained and told to sit on the curb of the very busy street, during rush hour traffic.Within minutes, I was surrounded by 6 police cars, handcuffed very tightly, fully searched for weapons, and placed back on the curb.Within an hour, I was transported to the Beverly Hills Police Headquarters, photographed, finger printed and put under a $100,000 bail and accused of armed bank robbery and accessory to robbery of a Citibank.Within an evening, I was wrongly arrested, locked up, denied a phone call, denied explanation of charges against me, denied ever being read my rights, denied being able to speak to my lawyer for a lengthy time, and denied being told that my car had been impounded…..All because I was mis-indentified as the wrong “tall, bald head, black male,” ... "fitting the description."I get that the Beverly Hills Police Department didn’t know at the time that I was a law abiding citizen of the community and that in my 51 years of existence, had never been handcuffed or arrested for any reason. All they saw, was someone fitting the description. Doesn't matter if he's a "Taye Diggs BLACK", a "LL Cool J BLACK", or "a Drake BLACK"
​

_________

I don't think his problem with the ordeal is that he was misidentified, because it was a very vague description, and he did fit that description. I think it's more about how he was treated when he got to the police station, and not being allowed to take the steps necessary to prove he wasn't the guy they were looking for.

What do you think? does he have a right to be pretty upset with the way things unfolded? Could the police have handled things differently once he got to the station?

It must be difficult being in law enforcement right now with the multitude of the public scrutinizing their every move, but perhaps it's warranted.?

 

[helaofthenorns]

I think it's everything! This is racism at it's worst. I do not understand why "whites" always perceive any black person as criminals or anything bad for that matter.

 

[Rainman]

The Police should have done the right thing — book the man and allow him to call his attorney or something because people have the right to say nothing to the police unless their attorney is present.

The right to remain silent is a legal right recognized, explicitly or by convention, in many of the world's legal systems.

While we may be deceiving each other that whites and blacks respect each other and so on, incidents like this one prove that we, as a nation, still have a long way to go before all citizens are treated equally.

 

[Muthoni]

This life is full of surprises; I think it is necessary to be thankful if one gets through the day without so much drama. I guess we all have a look alike somewhere that can make us be mistaken for them. The police handle criminals all day; it is possible to have a tough outlook when dealing with anyone until proven that they are not criminals.

 

[LuckyGirl08]

That police department could be sued because of the way they treated the man. They could have handled things differently, but with racism being a big factor now days police do not care how they treat anybody. I am sure that they could tell that he was not a robber by the car he drove or the way he was dressed. He is a TV producer so I am sure that he has plenty of money and do not need to rob a bank. Some police should use their common sense.

 

[Determined2014]

We all make mistakes, but their mistake is way too much, from one mistake they moved to another mistake, they should have at least grant him his right, let alone that they did not even recite his miranda rights, they will definately get sued.