“Pregnant, Black WIU Student Arrested for Fearfully Asking for Help”

This is an account of an incident involving the Macomb Police arresting a Black Pregnant woman.

There was an altercation between 2 drivers. I was sitting in the passenger seat of one vehicle.

The officer came to my window, cussing at me telling me to “roll down the f$&?ing window.” When I told him that I couldn’t, because the car had already been turned off, he told me to “open the f$&@ing door.” I complied, and he forcefully pulled me out of the car and slammed me on it multiple times KNOWING that I was pregnant (because I informed him repeatedly.)

I then stepped away from the car with my hands up to try to show I was no threat. The officer then put his hands on his tazer and ordered me to get on the ground.

I then called 911 because I believed at this point that my unborn’s life was in danger and I didn’t feel safe. Another officer came and ripped my phone away from my hand and slammed it hard on the windshield of the car. 

The officer who was manhandling me then put me in the back of his car. I asked what I was being arrested for, and received NO ANSWER. When I asked to talk to another officer, I was told that his car had Audio and Video and that if i had anything to say I could say it to him.

[RJC Interviewer Note: The car audio and video somehow was apparently destroyed so couldn’t be used to help the case in court.]

This was AFTER already being told by that same officer that I didn’t have a right to remain silent. I was never read my rights.

When I got to the jail, the man who was booking me didn’t even know what I was being arrested for. The officer knew he was in the wrong, so what he arrested me for was falsifying a report because I called 911 on him, claiming I could have just talked to another officer on the scene. 

I DID ask to speak to another officer, and WAS IGNORED.

I was the only person arrested from that incident. I ended up charged with a misdemeanor and that remains on my record. I was assigned a public defender, but I don’t believe he cared about my case.