A Lakeside Colorado Walmart customer pulled out his cell
phone in front of the store on Monday evening to capture video of Lakeside
Police arresting a man suspected of shoplifting. The man
shooting the video,
Chris Hoover, didn't expect he'd end up in handcuffs, too.
The video shows two police officers wrestling a man on the
ground. When they get the man in cuffs one officer realizes there is a camera.
During the commotion the officer points at the camera and says "that phone
is evidence. I want it." Hoover then says "it's mine."
"So he snatched it out of my hand... I wasn't going to
resist. He grabbed my wrist, and then he put me in cuffs," Hoover said.
Lakeside police would not go on camera, citing an ongoing
investigation. However, they did say they
stand by their officers. They say
police have a right to detain someone if they have video of a crime.
"He said, 'look, you have two choices,'" Hoover
explained. "He said, 'either I will arrest you right here, right now for
obstructing justice, and then we will get a search warrant, and we will get
your phone, and we will get that piece of video as police evidence.'"
The ACLU of Colorado says police can get a search warrant
but that the phone typically should remain with the owner until that warrant is
obtained.
"Police officers can ask for a copy or ask for the
video, but in the absence of a warrant, to actually seize somebody's personal
property, I don't think police officers can seize it or threaten to seize it
except in the most extreme emergency circumstances," ACLU Colorado
Director Mark Silverstein said
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