Every week since the shooting of unarmed teen Michael Brown by a police officer, there seems to be another incident involving racial profiling in the news. This week in Beverly Hills, California, police arrested a baldheaded black man they suspected of robbing a bank. However, the man they arrested was noted TV producer Charles Belk.
Belk had just left an upscale Beverly Hills restaurant when he was arrested by police who accused him of armed bank robbery and accessory to robbery of a Citibank. According to Beverly Hills Police, they were looking for a tall, bald black male, and Belk fit the description. Belk turned to social media and declared on Facebook that it was a life-altering experience and his only crime was that he fit the description of the suspect. He went on to state, “It’s one of those things that you hear about, but never think would happen to you.” Belk declared in his Facebook post that he “… was transported to the Beverly Hills police headquarters photographed, fingerprinted and given a $100,000 bail. “
In addition, he states that he was “wrongly arrested, locked up, denied a phone call, denied explanation of charges against [him], denied ever being read my rights, denied being able to speak to my lawyer for the time, and denied being told that my car was being impounded.”
The Beverly Hills Police Department later issued an apology stating, “The Beverly Hills Police Department deeply regrets the inconvenience to Mr. Belk and has reached out to him to express those regrets and further explain the circumstances. However, based on witness accounts, and his location close to the bank, officers properly detained and arrested [him] based on the totality of the circumstances at the time of the field investigation.”
In the meantime, Belk has appeared on Roland Martin’s TV show as well as his radio program regarding the incident. It is unknown at this time whether he will pursue a civil lawsuit against the Beverly Hills Police Department.
