- A Black man in Ohio was sitting in his car talking on his cellphone when police approached him about having a gun, Record-Courier reported.
- An unidentified woman had called in a tip to the Raveena Police Department claiming that the man, Darren Cooper, was “holding a pistol,” as he sat in the car in the parking lot where he worked.
- Police videos obtained by the Record-Courier, showed Cooper explaining to officers that he was talking on his iPhone and was unarmed.
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Police were called on a Black man who was talking on his cellphone while in his parked car of being armed with a pistol, Record-Courier reported.
The incident occurred last month in Ravenna, Ohio, on August 13, after a woman — whose identity is unknown— was at a dentist’s office across the street from Cooper’s workplace and called in a tip to the Ravenna Police Department about a man “in a black Mustang with a gun,” according to the Record-Courier.
The woman told police that she was “pretty darn sure it’s a pistol” during the 911 call, according to the outlet.
Darren Cooper was sitting in his dark grey Mustang in the parking lot at his job, the outlet reported. He was talking on his cellphone in his vehicle when local police arrived in the parking lot and directed him to “put his hands up,” the outlet reported.
In a police video of the incident obtained by the outlet, an officer asks Cooper to step out of his car and he explains to the officer that he was on his iPhone talking on speaker.
However, the color of Cooper's car did not match the woman's tip and he was not armed with a weapon, according to the newspaper. When officers did not find any evidence to match the woman's claims, they apologized to Cooper and left the scene, the Record-Courier reported.
Cooper was able to watch footage of the incident, which according to the outlet, also showed two officers "with at least two guns unholstered."
"I am happy to be able to share this story because my wife almost lost a husband, and my kids almost lost their father, over someone who thought I had a gun, but it was my iPhone, and the person did not have the correct color of my car," Cooper told the Record-Courier. "When someone's life is on the line, as mine clearly was, attention to detail is of the utmost importance."
A spokesman from the Ravenna Police Department told the Record-Courier that Cooper and the officers who responded to the case "acted professionally and civilly."
According to the outlet, Cooper said the woman who put out "the false police report should be charged."