Civil rights attorney Ben Crump brings attention to traffic stop encounter by Elk Grove Police

This Elk Grove Police officer was recorded on a video that has caught the attention of civil rights attorney Ben Crump. | 

This story will be updated when the Elk Grove Police release further information. | 

A recent traffic stop by Elk Grove Police has captured the attention of a high-profile civil rights attorney who commented on the encounter on social media.

The comments from attorney Ben Crump involved a traffic stop by Elk Grove Police of a 19-year old African-American man who allegedly was stopped for running a neighborhood stop sign. The unnamed suspect is reportedly an Elk Grove resident.

The entire encounter was captured on phone video presumably by the father of the person and recorded the comments of the officer. The Elk Grove Police officer who stopped the driver reportedly took the man's driver's license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance.

The mother of the driver repeatedly expressed concern that the officer would not issue the citation and stood in front of the two with her hands on her service weapon. Throughout the approximately 22-minute video recorded the encounter, the mother said her son would accept the citation.

"You have his driver's license, registration, and insurance in your hand," the mother said. "You just looked at him, you're are trying to question if he's on probation or parole because he's a black man? You can run his name and go give his ticket." 

She added "My son will not be the next hashtag. It will not happen." The video was posted on September 14 but the date of the actual event was not disclosed. 

The mother identified the officer as Elk Grove Police badge number 297 with the last name of Johnson. During the encounter Johnson, according to the mother's narrative, called for backup and said the officer claimed she felt unsafe. 

The video, which can be viewed on Facebook, has received over 65,000 comments and 2.7 million views in the last two days. The video was posted by Smash Da Topic Breaking News.

The Elk Grove Police Department said it will be releasing a statement on the traffic stop and that Chief Timothy Albright will release a video.  Throughout the video, the audio of the police officers involved was not captured as all were wearing masks. 

After 16 minutes, two other officers arrived at the scene. One of the officers, identified as Robinson badge 195 took over the discussion but it is not known how the traffic stop was resolved. 

In his Twitter comment, Crump said the following:

Despicable behavior by cop in Elk Grove CA. She pulled over a Black teen for a simple traffic violation & refused to hand him the ticket, even calling for backup while he was complying with her demands. Cops need to DE-ESCALATE situations & treat POC with respect we all deserve! pic.twitter.com/UV3IMQ3s9S

— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) September 16, 2020

Crump has been involved in many high-profile civil rights cases and has represented the families of George Floyd, Brianna Taylor, and Trayvon Martin.
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