An alleged snowball attack led to a young Black male serving time in jail. According to reports by Detroit Free Press, Dominique Rondeau was 16 years old when the incident took place outside of East English Village High School in Detroit during December 2013.
After school was dismissed, police said a snowball was thrown and shattered the window of a police car. Rondeau was allegedly in the vicinity when the snowball was thrown and was arrested and charged with destroying police property.
His bail was set at $20,000, but his family didn’t have enough money to post the bail. As a result, Rondeau spent 40 days behind bars and couldn’t enjoy Christmas and New Year’s Day with his family.
During a bench trial, the two officers admitted that they did not see Rondeau throw the snowball, but that he was spotted on camera. However, the video footage did not show a snowball hitting the police car and they couldn’t determine if Rondeau was actually on film at the time. Due to a lack of evidence, the judge dismissed the case.
Rondeau and his family have decided to sue the two police officers who arrested him and Detroit Public Schools for violating his rights.
It’s another example of how being accused of a small infraction by unqualified police can lead to major consequences for Blacks.
Now 18, Rondeau will return to high school in the fall.
