N. Carolina Cops Pepper Spray Black Teen In His White Foster Family Home, Taking Him For A Burglar

NewsRescue

10 years ago

Neighbors in Fuquay Varina, North Carolina called cops after seeing DeShawn Currie, 18, enter his family’s home through an unlocked door
When officers entered the home, they refused to believe the teen lived there – and demanded to know why he didn’t appear in any family photos
DeShawn has been with the family for about a year; they recently moved to the neighborhood and do not yet know all their neighbors
When the teen became angry, officers pepper sprayed him

By ASSOCIATED PRESS and MAILONLINE REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 11:55 EST, 8 October 2014

Police officers pepper sprayed a black teenager in his white foster parents’ home after they mistook him for a burglar, authorities have said.

Cops responded to the home in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina after a neighbor saw 18-year-old DeShawn Currie entering his family’s home through an unlocked side door.

The teenager, who moved in with the Tyler family a year ago, said he was stunned when three police officers entered the home and demanded to know who he was.

‘They was like, “Put your hands on the door”,’ DeShawn told WTVD. ‘I was like, “For what? This is my house.” I was like, “Why are y’all in here?”‘

Hurt: DeShawn Currie, 18, said police officers profiled him when they thought he was a burglar in his white foster parents’ house. He said he became angry when they told him he wasn’t part of the family

The police officers demanded his ID – which showed a different address – and refused to believe he was part of the family because he was not in any of the pictures on the mantelpiece in the home.

Police said they used pepper spray on the teenager when he ‘became profane, threatening and belligerent’ and ‘refused to follow instructions’ from officers.

Stacy Tyler, DeShawn’s foster mother, arrived back home to find the police officers there and told them that the teenager was her foster son.

Mrs Tyler and her husband, Ricky Tyler, have three other young children.

‘He’s my baby boy just as much as my other three children are,’ Stacy told WTVD of DeShawn.

Saddened: His foster parents, Ricky and Stacy Tyler, said they thought of DeShawn as their own son