Police have released dash-cam footage that shows a black PhD student being struck and arrested on suspicion of stealing his own car.
The incident took place on October 10, 2015, when driver Lawrence Crosby then 25-years-old and studying for a doctoral degree in civil engineering at Northwestern University was trying to fix a part on his car.
While working on his car, Crosby aroused the suspicions of a woman, who saw him trying to fix some loose molding on his car roof with something that looked like a metal bar and she called 911.
The Chicago Tribune reports:
A woman called 911, said she felt bad about racial profiling, but reported a potential case of grand theft auto anyway and jumped in her own car and started following the student.
Crosby noticed he was being tailed and decided he would drive to the police station to explain the situation but the police were already pursuing him.
During the arrest, Crosby was kneed and struck with open hands as he was swarmed by officers and wrestled to the ground. Crosby proved to the cops that the car was his and explained he’d been trying to fix something on the roof. So when they couldn’t pin anything on him for theft, the police charged Crosby with resisting arrest and disobeying officers.
Those charges were thrown out by a judge in March last year. Crosby has now filed a civil lawsuit against the city and the arresting officers, alleging false arrest and excessive force. The police however, claim the use of force was justified.