Initial sources widely reported that a 25-year old black woman near Mobile Alabama was arrested over the weekend on charges of disorderly conduct after she asked the staff of a Waffle House for the managers contact information in order to file a complaint.
The woman arrested was identified as Chikesia Clemons of Saraland, Alabama. Her friend, Clarita Adams, who was also present at the restaurant happened to record the incident on her phone. That video recording has since gone viral online.
Initial reports to the media by Adams and Clemons’ mother, Chiquitta Clemons-Howard, who was with her daughter at the time, indicated that after ordering food her daughter and a Waffle House staff member argued about the cost of the plastic utensils. According to Clemons-Howard, a Waffle House staff member insisted that Clemons pays for the utensils. Clemons then asked for the district manager’s contact information. However, witness statements provided to the media by police indicate that Clemons was drunk and cursing at the staff members.
“They didn’t even ask her to leave, she was waiting for them to give her the district manager’s card so she could file a complaint on one of the waitresses,” Clemons-Howard told reporters.
In the video, officers can be seen throwing Clemons to the ground, at which time her shirt gets pulled down, exposing her chest area as she screams, “What are you doing?”
At that point, an officer responds: “I’m about to break your arm, that’s what I’m about to do.” That’s when another officer positioned his hand on her neck while yet another officer read her the Miranda rights and placed her under arrest.
Clemons can be heard saying, “What am I doing wrong?”, “What did i do wrong? Y’all haven’t told me anything that I did wrong.”
Clemon’s mother reported that her daughter was arrested on disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, but is now out on $1000 bond.
UPDATED —
During a press conference held on Monday, Saraland Police confirmed that the Waffle House incident took place at 2:30am on Sunday morning.
Detective Little of the Saraland Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division released a 9-11 call made from the Waffle House employee to police dispatch. In the audio, which was played during the press conference, a woman can be heard telling the dispatcher that 2 women and 1 man entered the Waffle House with alcohol and refused to leave the establishment when they were told they couldn’t drink inside.
After the 9-11 call concluded, Little showed a video of the incident captured on security camera. The footage appears to show Clemons and Adams inside the Waffle House. Additional footage provided by police showed Clemons sitting at the police station with a garbage can up to her head, which seemed to indicate that Clemons had gotten sick (presumably from alcohol) after being taken into custody.
According to witness statements provided by Detective Mims at the press conference, witnesses stated that Clemons appeared to be intoxicated, and was hurling threats and profanity at Waffle House staff members. Witnesses also stated that Clemons did not comply with officers when they tried to make the arrest.
While taking questions from the media, Mims confirmed that the plastic utensils issue came up during the incident. When asked if race played a role, Mims noted that witnesses uniformly perceived the issue to be related to Clemons bringing outside beverages and alcohol in the establishment.
Little responded to a question about the “break your arm” comment made by one of the arresting officers by saying:
“The officer did state something to that effect and the reason why is because she [Clemons] was resisting, it’s common when an officer is using a technique to take a subject into custody that the force used could possible create an injury, and the statement was made as a cause-and-effect statement, rather than a threat.”
David Smith, President of the Mobile County NAACP released a statement on Sunday saying in part, “When incidents like this happen in our own backyard, it is incumbent upon the local NAACP to take a closer look and move the matter to whatever level is appropriate.”
Alec Barnett, Jr., President of the Baldwin County NAACP, a neighboring county to Mobile County, told IPJ investigators that he and other members of the NAACP and black community will be going to Saraland on Tuesday to meet with police officers about the incident.
