A Black California youth leader says he woke last week at 4 a.m. to find deputies in his bedroom, guns drawn, who then escorted him out of his home half-naked — only to let him go after realizing he was not a burglary suspect they were looking for.
Derrick Cooper, 54, said when he was wrongfully detained on April 18, he felt “less than human” and “humiliated.”
“I was not valued as a human being,” he told NBC News on Tuesday. “To just come in and blatantly take me out of my safe place and put me in a place that I’m helpless and afraid for my life. It’s one of the worst things imaginable.”
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said deputies from the Compton Station were dispatched to an attempted burglary call near the L.A. City Wildcats facility, a youth sports academy Cooper has run for the past 27 years. His apartment is in the same building as the facility, he said.
Cooper was detained inside of the facility but was later determined not to be a suspect and was released, the sheriff’s department said in a statement.
‘Please do not shoot me’
Cooper said he thought he was dreaming at first when he heard three deputies shouting at him in his bedroom, shining lights on him in the early hours of the morning.
When he realized what was happening, he said, “I just went into survival mode.”
“I’m like, ‘They’re either here to kill me or I’ve done something that I don’t know about,’” he said. “I said, ‘I’m unarmed, I live alone, please do not shoot me.’”
The deputies ordered him to stand up and walk towards them, and he told them he’d comply but he was naked from the waist down. He asked to put on underwear or pants but was told he could not.
“As much as I wanted to reach for something to cover up, I just knew if I did that, it was not going to be good for me. So as embarrassed as I was, I chose being embarrassed to live another day,” he explained.
He was then placed in handcuffs. Cooper said he repeatedly asked, “What am I being arrested for?” but was never told why.
The deputies escorted him out of his home, into the business part of his building, and out the door, he recalled.
“I thought (a deputy) was going to say ‘Sit down, cover up, let me tell you why we’re here.’ That didn’t happen,” Cooper said. “This is not right. He walked me out of my building onto Compton Boulevard with no shoes, no socks on” and the lower half of his body exposed.
He was placed into a patrol car for about 20 minutes and said he heard the dispatch radio say, “You guys are at the wrong building. Let him go.”
The sheriff’s department would not comment on if the deputies had arrived to the wrong address, but said “Compton Station is thoroughly investigating the incident.”
Soon after, the officers apologized and Cooper ran back into his building, he said.
“I’m exposed, I’m already embarrassed. I went in and I just sat there for the longest time thinking, ‘I can’t believe this is happening,’” he said.
Cooper reviewed security camera footage from outside and inside his building and found that the deputies had made entry through the mail slot, reaching up to unbolt two locks to open the door.
Cooper’s lawyer, Jaaye Person-Lynn, said that he and Cooper reviewed the surveillance footage from one hour prior to the deputies arrival and they didn’t see anyone prowling around in the area, much less a burglary suspect.
Demands for accountability
Person-Lynn said they’re still unsure why deputies made contact with Cooper.
“We haven’t been given any information like any 911 calls or any other information related to that call. So as of right now, we are still quite unsure what actually led to the officers showing up,” he said.
The ordeal has left Cooper shaken.
“It’s just hard to sleep at night. I’m taking it day by day, some days are good, some days are not,” he said.
He’s also been unable to be active in his youth academy where he coaches basketball, soccer, cheer, dance and drumline.
“The biggest disappointment that I’m dealing with right now is that I cannot be involved with the kids in the community that I serve,” he said. “Mentally I can’t give them that service right now. This is so unfair to me. Because all I ever wanted to do in life was do what someone did for me, give me the chance to be a kid, give me a chance to make memories, and give me a chance to be a productive citizen.”
Now, Cooper wants accountability.
He wants law enforcement to have proper training to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again, and wants to hear from the sheriff’s office.
“It’s been a week that this happened to me and nobody’s reached out and even showed any type of empathy or sympathy for what has happened to me from their department. That’s just unacceptable,” he said.
A claim is filed, protest planned
Attorney Person-Lynn said he filed a claim on Monday against the sheriff’s department for damages on Cooper’s behalf. It claims several violations of Cooper’s civil rights as well as negligent training, negligent supervision, battery, false imprisonment and false arrest.
In California, a government claim must be filed first before a lawsuit can be filed, he said.
A peaceful protest and march seeking justice has been organized for May 7, where demonstrators will head to Compton City Hall and the Compton Sheriff’s Station to demand justice for Cooper.
“I’m not going to rest until justice is served with this. It’s so much bigger than me,” Cooper said. “I want to speak for those that were actually killed in their homes by law enforcement and weren’t able to speak. If God’s going to use me in that capacity, so be it, I accept it.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
