NORTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — An Alpharetta man says he’s angry after police mistakenly handcuffed him inside of an Apple store.
Omar Chery told Channel 2’s Mike Petchenik he went to the North Point Mall store last Monday to buy a laptop computer, and was surprised when several officers came into the store and handcuffed him and another man.
The incident was captured on a cell phone video and e-mailed to Channel 2 Action News.
“Everybody’s looking at me. I’m humiliated, I’m embarrassed because I just went in there as a customer,” he said.
A police report said the store’s manager called police to report several men trying to use bogus identification and credit cards to purchase iPhones.
Chery, the report said, was identified as a possible suspect.
“I’m like, ‘Sir, you have the wrong person. It’s not me,’” he said.
Officers detained Chery and took him to the manager’s office for questioning. After they reviewed surveillance video, the report said officers determined Chery was not involved in any crime and he was allowed to leave.
“The person they were looking for had a Tennessee ID. I had a Georgia ID. It completely makes no sense as to why you’d point me out,” he said. “I had nothing to do with anything. I just came in there as a customer.”
Chery said he blames the store employees and not police, who he said were merely reacting to the store’s allegations.
“I understand,” he said. “You didn’t know and you were just doing what Apple told you.”
Petchenik contacted Apple’s corporate office for comment and was referred back to Alpharetta police.
Police Department spokesman George Gordon sent Petchenik the following statement:
“An Alpharetta police officer responded to the Apple Store at North Point Mall after our agency received a telephone call claiming fraudulent activity was in progress.
Upon arrival, the Apple store manager specifically advised the officer multiple black males were attempting to purchase two cellular phones with fraudulent credit card information.
The store manager had retained a fraudulent Tennessee ID and showed it to our officer. The manager identified the person he received the ID from as our officer waited for backup officers since it was believed multiple suspects were in the area perpetrating the fraud. Our officer stopped the male and explained the reason for detention, placed him in handcuffs and then escorted him in investigative detention to the manager's office.
The Apple store manager then specifically walked with another officer and pointed out a black male and said "that's him" identifying the male as the possible "lookout" for the group. The male was stopped and advised why he was detained, placed in handcuffs and escorted to the manager's office.
The officers spoke to the detained males and determined evidence did not exist to warrant an arrest. They were both released.
When a police officer believes that multiple suspects may be involved in a situation, that one or more suspects may represent a flight risk, or that there is potential for a situation to escalate or become dangerous to those involved or innocent bystanders, it is appropriate for the officer to handcuff a suspect and place her or him in investigative detention. This allows the officer to safely and securely investigate the situation and determine if an arrest should be made. Our police officers followed this protocol and acted professionally," the statement concluded.
WSBTV
