TEMPE, AZ — New video shows Tempe Police Department officers placing a Chicago police officer in handcuffs for allegedly squealing his tires for “1-2 seconds.”
The ABC15 Investigators first reported how Jalen Woods filed multiple complaints with the Tempe Police Department after he believed he was targeted for being Black after he was arrested that night.
Now, ABC15 has obtained the video of his August 2024 arrest from body camera videos.
The Tempe Police Department told the ABC15 Investigators that it would take about 14 months to release the video to the media, citing a backlog. However, Woods gave permission for the video to be shared with ABC15.
Woods was driving an expensive sports car, a Dodge Hellcat, at Mill Avenue and 6th Street and made a left-hand turn. According to the police report, an officer wrote:
“While the vehicle was stopped in traffic and continuously revving the engine, the rear tires began to create a squealing noise for approximately 1-2 seconds.”
Woods told ABC15 the city prosecutor dismissed the case against him last year, saying there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction.
Disclaimer: The views expressed are personal and do not represent Woods’ police department
The body camera video shared with ABC15 shows Woods at a red light. But there is no audio for the first 30 seconds, as there is a delay in the camera’s audio recording starting.
Several officers wrote in the report that as they went to perform a traffic stop, they could “smell the odor of freshly burnt rubber coming from the vehicle.”
Pastor Andre Miller, Vice President of the NAACP of Arizona, questions the arrest and wants answers about the misdemeanor traffic stop.
Miller said after watching the video, he did not see any smoke.
“There was no spinning of tires even without audio, you don’t see smoke, those tires would generate smoke,” Miller said.
He questions how police wrote in the report that they could smell freshly burnt rubber.
“Most police reports that we see, especially when you find an instance of police overreach or police misconduct…you, you see wordsmithing, right? You see a police report to justify actions that are not justifiable. And for me, reading this, that is what I see. I see a police report to justify something that is not justifiable, period," Miller said.
The body camera video shows a bicycle officer pulling Woods over.
The officer says, “Want to step out of the car for me?”
Woods responds, “For what?”
The officer goes on to tell him:
“We’ll talk at the back of the car. Woods responds, “I don’t want to, I don’t have to.”
The Tempe officer then tells him, “Sir, you’re going to have to step out of the car or I’m going to make you.”
After Woods gets out of the rental car, the officer tells him to put his hands behind his back. He puts him in handcuffs in about four seconds.
The officer asks Woods, “You got any guns in the car?” And Woods responds, “I’m the police, bro.”
“You’re the police?” Questioned the officer. “I gave you my ID,” said Woods.
Miller wants to know why Woods was placed in handcuffs after just seconds for an alleged traffic violation.
“That’s outrageous,” he said. “Absolutely outrageous.”
“He's asking, why. He wants to know what the issue is, and as soon as he steps out the vehicle, he's put in handcuffs as if he's some type of threat,” said Miller.
One of the bicycle officers who patrol Mill Avenue told Woods, "As soon as we pull people [out] of the car, we put them in handcuffs. People run from us all the time down here.”
The officer then told Woods that he had to go to jail.
“Since you’re out of state, I can’t cut you a ticket,” the officer stated.
The Tempe Police Department said that Woods was taken to the Tempe City jail where he was booked for exhibition of speed because he did not meet the ‘cite and release’ criteria.
The ABC15 Investigators reviewed Tempe’s policy around moving and non-moving violations, which states the following about when physical arrests are warranted during an attempted traffic stop:
- DUIs
- A felony has been committed involving a vehicle
- People who attempt to flee an officer
- Those who refuse to sign a misdemeanor traffic citation.
None of those applied in Woods’ case.
According to the department’s policy, citations in lieu of detention, “are generally used for local residents but may be extended to others where detention might present a hazard to their welfare or as an alternative to detention (e.g., elderly persons, pregnant women, etc.).”
The officers also told Woods that the car would be impounded.
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On the body camera video, an officer said, “Honestly, I don’t want to tow the car, I have to tow the car because it’s state law, it mandates you to tow it.”
Woods and his attorneys dispute whether towing the car was actually required.
Woods told us in a previous interview, “With them impounding it, it gave them the right to do an inventory search, which I feel was an aggressive tactic by them, to go around my Fourth Amendment rights to search my vehicle without probable cause because they had none.”
Miller said the NAACP has met with Tempe Police about recent concerns with the bike unit and how they treat African Americans.
“This cannot continue to happen,” Miller said. “Something needs to be done, and I put that at the chief's feet.”
Miller is pushing for the officers involved to be retrained and reprimanded.
“This is not a good arrest. This is a bad arrest, and this has to be stated to be a bad arrest from the Tempe Police Department.”
Tempe Police responded in a statement:
“We appreciate you reaching out again regarding the August 2024 traffic stop involving Jalen Woods, which has since been closed by the City Attorney’s office.
At present, the Tempe Police Department is completing a comprehensive internal review of this stop. The review was ordered by Chief Ken McCoy before the receipt of a formal complaint and a notice of claim from Mr. Woods, who has indicated he intends to file a civil lawsuit over the traffic stop. Chief McCoy ordered the review to ensure that the TPD personnel involved followed the law to the best of their ability and treated Mr. Woods – a Chicago police officer – as they would have treated anyone else in similar circumstances.”