The Dallas Morning News, CNN and multiple other outlets have the story of a Little Rock family whose trip to an AAU basketball tournament near Dallas turned into a life-or-death ordeal on July 23 when police in the town of Frisco, Texas mistook their Dodge Charger for a stolen car.
It was only after initiating a “high-risk” traffic stop on a narrow-shouldered toll highway, stopping multiple lanes of traffic and drawing guns on the terrified family — including their 13-year-old son — that one of the officers realized their mistake: They had entered the car’s license plates as being from Arizona, not Arkansas.
Frisco police chief David Chilson issued a statement Friday apologizing for the mistake and linking to body-cam video of the encounter. He’s since spoken with the family, he said.
“I empathize with them and completely understand why they’re upset. I apologized on behalf of our department and assured them that we will hold ourselves accountable and provide transparency through the process,” Chilson said.
This abbreviated version of the body camera footage (posted by a Twitter user) summarizes the encounter:
Frisco Police terrorize a black family at gunpoint after a cop runs Arkansas plate numbers through the Arizona database and then assumes the car is stolen when the plates don’t show up.
They then force the entire family out of the car one by one at gunpoint, making women and… pic.twitter.com/DWODQ6PmoH— 🥀_ Imposter 🥀 (@Imposter_Edits) July 30, 2023
Aside from social media posts, the family hasn’t yet made a public statement or been identified by name. But a TikTok user going by “DemiJanale,” who identified herself as the driver of the vehicle, posted a video statement on TikTok describing the incident. She’s the mom of the 13-year-old boy who was held at gunpoint.
Here is a video explination pic.twitter.com/DIBZevbC2u
— 🥀_ Imposter 🥀 (@Imposter_Edits) July 30, 2023
Sports Illustrated has a fairly detailed account of the family’s ordeal.
