A Lawrence Township, Ind. deputy constable is out of a job after he was captured on video demanding identification from two Black mall shoppers while refusing to say why he was stopping them in the first place, CNN reports.
“I got my rights to do anything I want to do. I’m a police officer,” the deputy constable could be heard saying in the video.
According to the CNN, Lawrence Township Constable Terry Burns declined to confirm the identity of the former deputy constable, however, USA Today identified him as now-former deputy constable Daryl Jones.
As the report notes, the incident started on Nov. 12 outside of the Nordstrom Rack in Indianapolis’ Rivers Edge shopping center. Two cousins, Aaron Blackwell and Durrell Cunningham, were in a car when the deputy constable – who was off duty but was working security at the retailer – approached them. It is not exactly clear what happened before Blackwell began taping but the men could be heard asking the deputy constable why he needed their ID.
“Because you want to run your mouth to me,” the officer responds.
“Get your driver’s license out or I will lock you up,” the deputy could be heard saying at another point.
As the two cousins try to figure out what the problem is, Cunningham, who was driving, once again sought answers.
“I don’t mind showing you my driver’s license, but what is the reason that you’re asking?” he asked.
“Because you’re acting suspicious,” the deputy said.
The two cousins end up waiting out the officer’s bizarre tirade until he calls for back up and an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer shows up.
The deputy could be heard telling the officer that the men left the Nordstrom Rack with their items and “then they run their mouth to me.”
The officer specifically asks if the men stole anything, to which the deputy said they did not.
The two law enforcement officers step away for a moment. Ultimately, the police officer returns and notes, “As far as I’m concerned, there was no traffic infraction so there’s no reason to stop the vehicle.”
Constable Burns noted that he fired the deputy the very day that he learned of the incident.
“I think my actions speak to what my feelings were,” [about the interaction] the constable said, adding that he would reach out to the men involved.
Nordstrom also spoke out against the former deputy’s actions, saying that he “acted without our knowledge or direction.” The department store said that it told the third-party agency that provides it with security guards that the deputy is no to work at any Nordstrom location.
“We take matters like this seriously and don’t tolerate discrimination of any kind. As soon as we became aware of the incident, we apologized to the customer,” the statement added.