By Snejana Farberov
In Chicago, being disrespectful
is now apparently against the law.
A video has surfaced online
showing a resident of the Second City being arrested during a routine traffic
stop after 'reduly' snatching a parking ticket from the hands of an officer.
When the unnamed arrestee
demanded to know why he was being handcuffed, the responding officer offered a
terse reply: 'for being stupid.'
The cell phone footage shot by
the suspect's friend was first shared on Facebook Monday. It has since drawn
341 'likes' and nearly 800 shares.
It was later uploaded by the
user TemperVale onto the video-sharing site LiveLeak, where it has been played
more than 20,000 times., and counting,.
According to the post that
accompanied the video, the incident involved officers from Chicago Police
Department's District 4 covering the southern portion of the city.
The three men in the video were riding in a
car together when the driver allegedly parked on a sidewalk and tried to leave,
but was stopped by police.
The clip clocking in at 2
minutes and 41 seconds shows a hulking police officer in a bulletproof vest
approach the motorist holding a parking citation.
The cop goes to hand the ticket
to the man, who appears upset and abruptly snatches the piece of paper from the
officer's hands.
The suspect's brusque gesture
enrages the officer, who yanks the motorist by the neck and then slams him
against a nearby wall face first.
As he is being fitted with a
pair of handcuffs, the driver demands to know why he is being placed under
arrest, to which the officer responds: 'for being stupid.'
The man continues to protest,
lamenting: 'I got my ID. Now I'm under arrest ?’
The officer appears unimpressed
by the suspect’s arguments, and with the words, ‘You like to go to jail
tonight? That's fine with me,’ he leads him to the patrol car and places the
restrained man in the backseat.
The arrestee’s friend recording
the incident makes a last-ditch attempt to reason with police by pointing out
that there are more serious crimes being committed in the rough South Chicago
neighborhood than a parking violation.
Last-ditch effort: A friend
(right) tried to intervene on the hapless motorist's behalf with the officers,
but he failed
‘There's people shooting
outside,’ the man says off camera. ‘I had a gun pointed at me the other day and
you're going to arrest him?’
But the responding officers
appear unmoved by these arguments.
On Facebook, most commenters
have sided with the arrested man, calling out the unidentified officer for
being a 'bully.'
Leroy Dabbinzz wrote: 'What law
did he break? When the cop handed him the ticket he took it too fast? That's a
crime? A crime worthy of assault and imprisonment? I think not. If the guy
deserved a citation then write it up give it to him and be on your way.’
However, some people came to
the officer's defense, saying that the driver broke the law and then decided to
'act tough' for the camera instead of taking up his case in court.
MailOnline reached out to the
Chicago Police Department Saturday evening for comment and is awaiting a
response.
