Charges were dismissed this week against a northern Illinois couple who was arrested at a Kenosha, Wisconsin, Applebee's after police mistakenly believed they were involved in a hit-and-run, according to WTMJ, the NBC affiliate in Milwaukee.
Shana Boyd and her partner Jermelle English were questioned by police during the encounter, which was captured on police body camera. Police said that witnesses told them they saw two Black men and a Black woman flee toward an Applebee’s restaurant. One witness said the woman was carrying a child, according to police.
An Applebee’s employee told officers that some “suspicious people” who may have been involved in the crash were in the restaurant and directed officers to two people, including a Black man holding a baby.
Body camera shows police throwing Boyd to the ground, with officers on top of her and another one pepper spraying her. At the same time, other officers are also in the Applebee's talking with the actual hit-and-run suspects, who were in the bathroom.
Boyd and English were subsequently charged with resisting and officer and disorderly conduct. In November, the Kenosha Police Department suspended both officers involved in the encounter, who investigators determined had violated department policy.
Boyd's attorney is now fighting for procedural change inside Kenosha's force.
"If you agree to these policy and procedural changes, we can help make this community better. If they close the door on us, like they've done for the first five months, hopefully they're not gonna do it now, but if they continue to do that then we have no choice but to file a federal suit," Attorney Kevin O'Connor said.
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O'Connor said they're considering filing an injunctive relief which means the court could order Kenosha police to change its own policy.
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