Daniele Watts, the actress who claims she was wrongfully detained and handcuffed by Studio City police for making out with her boyfriend, argued cops had no right to demand her identification when they stopped her on Sept. 11.
In audio from the incident obtained by TMZ, Watts is heard arguing with the arresting officer as he repeatedly asks to see her ID. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE AUDIO (WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE).
“Do you know how many times the cops have been called … just because I’m black and he’s white,” she’s heard saying.
The officer accuses Watts of bring up the “race card,” saying he was called by neighbors in response to a lewd scene.
“I have every right to ask your ID,” the officer says, as Watts protests.
The actress, who has also appeared on “Weeds” and “Partners,” took to her Facebook page Thursday to share her experience — which she believes was the result of prejudice against her being black with a white boyfriend. Watts posted photos that her beau, Brian Lucas, took as she stood handcuffed and crying.
Witnesses from nearby buildings apparently told police they saw Watts and Lucas having sex in the passenger seat of their car, according to TMZ.
“Today I was handcuffed and detained by 2 police officers from the Studio City Police Department after refusing to agree that I had done something wrong by showing affection, fully clothed, in a public place,” she wrote.
“From the questions that (the cop) asked, I could tell (he) thought we were a HO (prostitute) and a TRICK (client),” Lucas added on his own Facebook page.
Watts said she was talking to her father and standing by a tree when the police came. She’s heard telling her father to “hold on” as she talks to the officers in the audio release.
She is also heard telling the cops that she “has a publicist” and works as an actor in the studio nearby.
“I am going to say no,” she tells the cop who repeatedly asks for her ID. “And you can say that I’m resisting arrest.”
The officer responds saying Watts was “interfering” rather than resisting arrest and that he had probable cause to ask for identification because of the complaints from neighbors.
The law in California, and in New York, has no statute requiring individuals to present identification when detained on suspicion of criminal activity.
The officer is heard requesting a female officer be brought to the scene in the audio tape, after protests from Watts continue.
“We’re going to get your ID one way or another,” he says. “Thank you for bringing up the race card I never hear that.”
Watts is later heard crying and yelling as her boyfriend has a conversation with the officers. Lucas, a celebrity chef, explained that he presented his own ID without conflict “because of his past experience with the law.”
“I was sitting in that back of this cop car, filled with adrenaline, my wrist bleeding in pain, and it occurred to me, that even there, I STILL HAD POWER OVER MY OWN SPIRIT,” Watts wrote on Facebook.
“I knew that I had done nothing wrong, that I wasn’t harming anyone, so I walked away.”
The Los Angeles Police Department addressed the incident Sunday, saying that its officers responded to a caller complaint “that a male and a female were involved in indecent exposure inside a Silver Mercedes with the vehicle door open,” according to a statement obtained by the L.A. Times.
Officials located “two individuals that matched the description of the suspects,” and they were briefly detained.
“Upon further investigation it was determined that no crime had been committed,” the statement continued. “Ms. Watts and her companion were subsequently released.”
The LAPD has also launched an internal complaint investigation, officers told The Times.
Watts maintained her innocence in an interview with CNN Monday.
The actress maintained that she did nothing wrong, emphasizing that she and Lucas were “fully clothed” and within their rights to show affection publicly. She also claimed the police officer first approached Lucas for her identification.
“He didn’t even give me the respect of telling me what happened,” she told CNN. “For me, if he would have come to me like ‘excuse me ma’am, you seem like a respectable person but someone made a call can we just talk to you for a second,’ the whole situation would have been different.”
Watts also maintained – knowing that the situation could have been resolved much earlier if she would have presented her ID as asked – that she didn’t because she believes “in America and what it stands for.”
“Part of my role as a public figure is to raise awareness and be strong enough to say and do the things that people that maybe don’t have the advantages that I have…or aren’t strong enough, or don’t have the know how, or don’t have the awareness to do” she said.
“For me standing up for that constitutional right was a gift and a blessing.”
On a mobile device? Click to watch the video of the audio and here for recap video.
