A Houston social worker spent two days in jail after calling 911 on a cop because she felt threatened and wanted a second officer on the scene during a traffic stop. Earledreka White, 28, was pulled over by Officer Gentian Luca in March, for allegedly crossing a solid white line.
In footage published by the Houston Press last Thursday (Aug. 4). White steps outside of her vehicle and asks why she’s being pulled over. She says the officer told her to “Get your ass back in the car!”
White can then be seen sitting back down in her car and dialing 911. “I asked him what the offense was, he raised his voice at me and threatened to arrest me,” White says to the operator. “I would like another officer to come out here. My heart is racing.”
Luca attempts to handcuff White while she’s on the phone, and twists her arm as she raises her hand to stop him from grabbing her wrist. White begins screaming into the phone as Luca struggles to get her in handcuffs.
“This is a traffic stop that escalated to arrest — for resisting arrest,” White’s lawyer, Zack Fertitta, said. “There was no breach of the peace. She didn’t attack him. There are excellent police officers out there who are complete professionals, but this guy is not one of them.”
Fertitta asserts that White didn’t commit an infraction as she did not cross the double line “unsafely” which would warrant the traffic stop. Fertitta reportedly provided the Houston Press with 10 examples of other cars doing the same thing over the course of a minute.
While the footage is being compared to the traffic stop of Sandra Bland, Metro Police Chief Vera Bumpers claims there was “no need” for White to call 911. Bumpers concluded that Luca had the right to arrest White because she ignored a request to provide license and registration.
Bumpers added that citizens feeling unsafe around police should ask for a supervisor’s phone number, instead of dialing 911.
“911 is an emergency call. He was not threatening her,” said Bumpers. “He was acting under the color of law as a police officer. To me, when your life is in danger, that is when we utilize 911, which is why the 911 operator transferred her to Metro.”
An internal investigation found that Luca did nothing wrong.
Watch the footage below.