A felony charge has been filed against a black man who was arrested last week for walking home in a Texas snowstorm.
Rodney Reese, 18, was arrested in Plano on Feb. 16 and charged with being a pedestrian on the roadway, news outlets reported.
Police said officers received a call about a black man who was seen in the middle of a snowy street wearing a short-sleeved shirt and sent to conduct a welfare check.
Police released body camera images of the meeting on Facebook on Friday. In the video, the police can be seen following Reese and repeatedly asking him where he is going and if he was okay, to which he replies that he is fine and that he is on his way home.
Reese told KDFW-TV that he was walking home from his job at a Walmart and didn’t stop for the cops because he didn’t need their help.
Officers continued to track Reese for about two minutes before stopping him, telling him they were “conducting an investigation” and informing him that he was being held.
Reese replied “no” and continued walking but was stopped again. The video shows a brief scuffle of officers trying to handcuff Reese, which can be heard to be released.
According to the Facebook post, the arresting officer noted that Reese opposed arrest, but chose not to charge him.
Plano police chief Ed Drain told KDFW-TV the charges were dropped because the arrest was inconsistent with the reason why officers had to be called for investigation.
“They should’ve brought him home, that’s where he should have gone,” said Drain.
Drain supported his agents and stated that at the time of the arrest they did not know Reese’s age, where he worked or where he lived.
Drain also said he does not believe race was a factor in the arrest, adding that he “cannot get into people’s minds.”
Reese said he believes the call that brought those officers to the scene and his subsequent arrest was based on the color of his skin.