Beverly Hills PD Investigating Black TV Producer’s Claims of Mistreatment

Beverly Hills Mayor Lili Bosse calls Charles Belk’s incarceration “unfortunate,” but says “a thorough and lengthy investigation was absolutely necessary”

Charles Belk is detained by Beverly Hills police officers, Aug. 22, 2014. (Credit: Facebook)
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The Beverly Hills Police Department is looking into allegations of mistreatment brought forth by Charles Belk, TheWrap has confirmed. The freelance TV producer was detained for six hours on Friday after he was mistaken for a bank robbery suspect.

Belk alleged via Facebook that the Beverly Hills PD detained him without explanation at first. He also claimed officers didn’t read him his Miranda rights. Belk said he was jailed for more than six hours without being allowed to make a phone call, listing other details like having his shoes and belt taken from him. “The whole incident kind of rattled me,” he told TheWrap.

“We are listening to his concerns and we are looking into the matters that he has brought forward to us,” police spokesman Sgt. Max Subin told TheWrap. The police department is expected to release additional information on Thursday regarding Belk’s arrest, his allegations, and the department’s findings on the matter.

Also read: Black TV Producer Wrongly Detained in Beverly Hills Says ‘Ferguson Resonated In My Mind’

Police previously said that Belk fit the physical description of the armed robbery suspect they were searching for when Belk was detained. “Same color shirt, same color pants,” Belk said he was told by a police lieutenant at the scene. Additionally, the suspect had been identified as a “tall, bald headed, black male.”

An eye-witness had identified Belk as the suspect, according to the police. But he was later cleared.

“A follow-up investigation by detectives ultimately determined that Mr. Belk was not involved in the robbery and he was released from custody without charges,” the Beverly Hills PD said in a statement.

The man Belk was mistaken for is still at large, but police caught his accomplice, who they believe is the “Purse Packing Bandit,” a woman involved in multiple robberies around the Los Angeles area.

Also read: Black TV Producer Mistaken for Bank Robber: Beverly Hills PD ‘Deeply Regrets’ Error

Beverly Hills mayor Lili Bosse says she supports the police department’s handling of the ongoing case.

“I am very proud of our police department for the arrest of the alleged ‘Purse Packing Bandit,’ who likely has robbed so many other banks in the Los Angeles area,” she said in a statement. “It is extremely unfortunate that an innocent bystander was mistakenly identified as a suspect. However, because of this positive identification and because multiple law enforcement agencies were involved, a thorough and lengthy investigation was absolutely necessary.”

Belk has been extremely vocal in criticizing the department for detaining him for six hours. But Mayor Bosse says that police department protocols required coordination with the FBI and Los Angeles police detectives to thoroughly verify that Belk was not the suspect, as well as examination of bank surveillance video and taking witness statements, before he could be released.

Also read: Fired Black Editor Sues People Magazine for Discrimination

Belk has made multiple appearances on television since his arrest, and has urged his Facebook followers to email the Beverly Hills chief of police and its mayor, as well as FBI Director Bill L. Lewis. “I get more and more outraged by this every day,” he wrote of his alleged mistreatment, adding that “the BHPD and the mayor of Beverly Hills have gone into Crisis Prevention mode” with their responses to his claims.

Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.

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