False Arrest.....

Jamie and his "baby" the El Camino....

One of the things about being married to a black man, that I will never get used to, is the way they are treated due to history and stereotypes. Back when I was I pregnant with Tatiana, Jamie and I were going to a store to exchange duplicate baby gifts that we had received at my baby shower. We went to the store, receipt and items in hand. As we got out of the car and were walking into the store, we ran into some friends that were leaving. They decided to go back in with us and catch up and talk while we exchanged our gifts and shopped. This couple also happened to be a black male and white female. We went up to the counter with our receipts and goodies to get credit for the store. While we were at the customer service counter there was a lot of whispering going on. We had no idea what was up and continued on with our shopping adventure. After we were done picking out our items, we went to the register to pay with our credit that the store had given us. The manager was acting really weird and seemed to be stalling purposely. I jokingly said, "Do you think these are counterfeit store dollars or something? You just gave them to us an hour ago. Ha, ha." Again with the stalling, and he appeared in no mood for jokes. The manager finally finished ringing up our purchases and we started to leave the store. As we were leaving we looked around and the entire building was surrounded by police! We thought, what on earth is going on!? Then all of the sudden they take my husband, handcuff him, and tell him to get on the ground. My husband said, "I am not getting on the ground I didn't do anything!" One of the cops put a gun to his head and said, "Get on the ground now!" Needless to say, he did. As this was going on, they took our female friend and me around the corner, and then took our male friend and handcuffed him as well! So here we are, not having a clue what is happening, I am nine months pregnant, and we are all in shock! I am screaming at the cops to find out what is going on and they told me to shut up or I would be on the ground with my husband! Nine months pregnant no less! By now, they have taken my husband and our friend to separate cop cars, searched our cars and purses, and have kept us in the dark as to what is happening. Finally, I said, "I need to know what is going on, and you need to call my friend who is a cop and talk to him, because whatever you think you have our husbands for, you have got the wrong guys!" Come to find out, five days earlier, there was an armed robbery at that store. Guess who did it? Two black men! So of course our husbands were the robbers coming back to do it again! =) This time with receipts in hand and a pregnant woman to boot! Insanity!!!!!! After what seemed to be hours, they finally let my husband, our female friend and me, leave. Our male friend was taken to jail (he was "closer" to the size description) and then later released after they realized none of us had anything to do with the robbery! The only thing the two men that committed the crime had in common with our men was the fact that they were black. Height, weight, hair, age etc.....all TOTALLY different! So, two black men, with receipts, out to have a nice day of shopping and BOOM....false arrest at it's worst!