Police apologize for wrongful arrest of Black man at gunpoint in his Wisconsin home, after a neighbor called 911 with a false report about a ‘black man inside a house who shouldn’t be there’
Wisconsin police apologize for wrongly arresting Black man at gunpoint in his home after his neighbor called 911 about a ‘black man inside a house who shouldn’t be there’
The Monona Police Dept received a call from a woman at 10:50am on Tuesday – Caller told dispatchers she’d seen a black man ‘inside her neighbor’s home and didn’t believe he should be there’
The previous person who lived next door recently passed away, and the home had been vacant ever since, she said
Allegedly believing a burglary to be in progress, the officers then entered the premises guns drawn, police said
Officers placed a 23-year-old black male they found in the home him in handcuffs while they investigated the property, according to the police statement
The man, who has not been named, told police he was renting the property from the son of the deceased owner
He was released after cops contacted the current owner and he confirmed the man’s story, before police uncuffed him without charging the home’e occupant
The home’s resident and the home owner have filed a formal complaint with police over the incident
The Monona Police Dept arrested a black home owner on Tuesday morning after a call from a female resident of Arrowhead Drive [photo] at 10:50am reported seeing a black man ‘inside her neighbor’s home and didn’t believe he should be there’.
Officers reported was in progress, the officers then entered the home with their firearms drawn.
Though the woman specifically identified the believed burglar as a black male to dispatchers, Monona Police Chief Walter J. Ostrenga (above) claims that information wasn’t passed on to attending officers
When cops asked what he was doing inside the house, the man told police he was legally in the home having rented the property from the current owner – the son of the deceased former owner.
Police contacted the homeowner by phone and he confirmed he that he was friends with the handcuffed man, who was was renting from him.
‘Given the circumstances, the handcuffs were removed from the subject,’ Chief Ostrenga said in a written statement. ‘Officers apologized for the misunderstanding and they cleared from the call.’
Shortly after the incident, the home owner and the man who had been handcuffed in the home went to the police department and filed a formal complaint.
The complaint will be thoroughly investigated, police said
One of the officers involved met with them and again apologized.
The Monona Police Department said in a news release that the department is, “committed to creating an environment of trust and empathy in all our interactions between the public and our peace officers.”
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