Parents of a Wake County, North Carolina teen are furious after their son was mistaken as a burglar and pepper sprayed in their home. Ricky and Stacy Tyler have been fostering 18-year-old DeShawn Currie for a year and don’t see him any different from their other three children. The police, however, do apparently.
A neighbor called the police when s/he saw Currie enter his home. Shortly after the police arrived, they confronted Currie. “They was like, ‘Put your hands on the door,’” said Currie. “I was like, ‘For what? This is my house.’ I was like, ‘Why are y’all in here?’” The officers questioned him about his belonging while pointing at a family photo that didn’t include him.
The parents shared their hurt with ABC 11 and said though they are still getting to know their neighbors. The Tylers said it’s hurtful someone would assume Currie was a burglar just for going about his normal routine of walking home after school. Stacy left the side door unlocked for Currie, who had gotten out of school early.
[IMAGE: ABC 11]
Angry at the officers assumption that he did not belong, Currie and the cops began to argue, which resulted in one of the officers pepper spraying him in the face. When Stacy got home to clear up the confusion, Currie was being treated by EMS. According to ABC 11, Currie chose the Tyler family because he wanted to feel safe and loved, but after this event, he doesn’t know if wants to continue living with the Tylers.
“Everything that we’ve worked so hard for in the past years was stripped away yesterday in just a matter of moments,” said Ricky.
The cops who pepper sprayed Currie said he brought the situation on himself because he did not comply with their instructions and became violent.
“I’m feeling comfortable,” explained Currie. “I had moved into my room, and I’m feeling like I’m loved. And then when they come in and they just profile me and say that I’m not who I am. And that I do not stay here because there was white kids on the wall, that really made me mad.”
So far, no charges have been filed.