An Applebees customer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was beaten by cops who mistook him for a hit-and-run suspect.
Kenosha police were searching for three suspects involved in a serious hit-and-run crash on July 20 when they arrested the wrong man.
Witnesses to the crash told police they saw two Black men and a woman with a baby dash into the Applebee’s a block away, according to WISN 12 News.
Police approached a table where a man and a woman sat with their baby. Police asked the man for his identification. Instead of showing his ID, the customer stood up and walked away from the table.
Jennifer Harris, the manager who was working that night, said the customer refused to comply with police orders.
“(Police) came in and asked (the family) to show them what car they came in, so they could verify if they were in the car accident or not,” Harris told WISN 12 News.
“The guy didn’t want to comply, he had his baby in his arms. (Police) kept telling him he’s not under arrest, but he’s detained, and needed to answer this question,” Harris said. “He was trying to say he needed to change his son’s diaper. He tried to go the other way, they tackled him into a wall and the baby hit its head on the wall.”
Harris said the officers grabbed the baby out of the father’s arms as he was on the floor.
One officer is seen punching the man and yelling for him to “put his hand behind his back” in a video. But he still refused to comply.
The man was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting and obstructing an officer.
The woman he was dining with was also arrested on the same charges and an additional charge of marijuana possession, according to WISN 12 News.
“It’s just sad. I just felt bad for the baby, that it had to go through that traumatic event,” Harris said as she fought back tears.
Police eventually found the three hit-and-run suspects hiding in the restaurant’s restroom. They were arrested and booked into the county jail.
Watch the news report below.
