Florida woman claims Atlanta police used excessive force for window tint violation
The Brief
A Florida grandmother says an Atlanta police officer used excessive force when he arrested her over the weekend for having dark tint on her windows.
The 43-year-old says the officer cursed at her and yanked her out of the car. She says she recorded the encounter on her cellphone to prove it.
Ebony Thomas was arrested and charged with obstruction and having windows with an illegal dark tint on them.
ATLANTA - Florida resident Ebony Thomas says she was taking a friend to work on Sunday around 3:50 p.m. when an officer pulled her over at Lakewood Avenue and Jonesboro Road.
She says the cell phone video she captured tells the story.
What they're saying
Thomas: "The lock is on the door."
APD: "Unlock it."
Thomas: "You just hit it. What are you doing?"
APD: "Step out the car."
APD: "If I tell you again, I am going to pull your a-- out of the f---ing car."
Thomas says there was chaos from the very beginning when an Atlanta police officer pulled her over in her Mercedes CLA with dark tinted windows.
She says she started recording with her cellphone because she hadn't done anything wrong and the officer was so aggressive.
Thomas says she was afraid to move because she didn't want to be shot.
"The way he is so aggressive, I am like, 'What's going on? What just happened?" she told FOX 5 Atlanta reporter Aungelique Proctor. "He yanks my seatbelt off and pulled me out the car. I had on silver flip-flops. The shoes were in the driver's side on the floor, that is just how hard he pulled me."
Thomas says the officer cuffed both her and her passenger and searched the car. She says her passenger admitted to the officer that he smoked some marijuana right before Thomas picked him up, but the 43-year-old grandmother said she had done nothing wrong. She says a female recruit on the scene agreed with her.
"She's like, 'You are right. You didn't do nothing.' I said, 'You are admitting I did nothing, but I am still being arrested and detained?'" Thomas questioned.
The officer later released the male passenger and allowed him to go, but Thomas went straight to the Fulton County Jail.
"'I'm taking her to jail because her mouth is slick,'" Thomas said the officer said in front of her.
She was charged with obstruction and dark tinted windows. She was taken to the Fulton County Jail where she says she had to pay $3,700 to bond out.
What we know
Thomas has since reported the arrest to the Atlanta Police Department's Internal Affairs, alleging excessive force by the officer.
The department says it is looking into the matter.
The Source
This article is based on original reporting by FOX 5 Atlanta reporter Aungelique Proctor.
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