ATLANTA - Atlanta police have launched an internal affairs investigation after a northwest Atlanta woman was arrested for a crime she didn't commit.
Teresa Culpepper said an Atlanta police officer mistakenly arrested her on Aug. 21 for an alleged aggravated assault.
“I told them, I said, ‘I didn't do it..I don't even know what you're talking about,’” Culpepper said.
Culpepper says the ordeal began when she called police to report her truck was stolen out of her driveway.
In an unusual move, Culpepper says the same officer who had responded to her stolen truck returned to her Hawkins Street house with handcuffs. She said the officer told her she was being arrested for pouring boiling water on Angelo Boyd.
The disabled 46-year-old mother of two said she spent 53 days in jail because she didn’t have enough money to make her bond.
None of the four officers involved in the arrest checked Culpepper’s identification, according to her attorney, Ashleigh Merchant
"She had a Georgia driver's license. They didn't check that," said Merchant.
The only similarities between Culpepper and the alleged suspect is their first name and they are both African-American women.
Her attorney says the four officers involved, including the one who testified before a grand jury, should be held accountable. Culpepper said the officers should be fired, and that she plans to take legal action.
A spokesperson for Atlanta Police Department said the case is being investigated.
By MYFOXATLANTA STAFF/myfoxatlanta
ReplyDeleteATLANTA - Atlanta police have launched an internal affairs investigation after a northwest Atlanta woman was arrested for a crime she didn't commit.
Teresa Culpepper said an Atlanta police officer mistakenly arrested her on Aug. 21 for an alleged aggravated assault.
“I told them, I said, ‘I didn't do it..I don't even know what you're talking about,’” Culpepper said.
Culpepper says the ordeal began when she called police to report her truck was stolen out of her driveway.
In an unusual move, Culpepper says the same officer who had responded to her stolen truck returned to her Hawkins Street house with handcuffs. She said the officer told her she was being arrested for pouring boiling water on Angelo Boyd.
The disabled 46-year-old mother of two said she spent 53 days in jail because she didn’t have enough money to make her bond.
None of the four officers involved in the arrest checked Culpepper’s identification, according to her attorney, Ashleigh Merchant
"She had a Georgia driver's license. They didn't check that," said Merchant.
The only similarities between Culpepper and the alleged suspect is their first name and they are both African-American women.
Her attorney says the four officers involved, including the one who testified before a grand jury, should be held accountable. Culpepper said the officers should be fired, and that she plans to take legal action.
A spokesperson for Atlanta Police Department said the case is being investigated.
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/local_news/Woman-Arrested-by-Mistake%2C-Spends-53-Days-in-Jail-201111019-pm-pk?CMP=201110_emailshare