PLANO, Texas (AP) — A misdemeanor charge has been dropped against a Black man who was arrested last week for walking home on a street during a snowstorm in Texas.
Eighteen-year-old Rodney Reese was arrested on Feb. 16 in Plano and charged with being a pedestrian in the roadway.
Plano police said officers were performing a wellness check on Reese after they received a call about a Black man seen stumbling on the snowy roadway clad in a short-sleeved shirt.
Body camera footage shows officers following Reese for about two minutes before arresting him.
Plano Police Chief Ed Drain told KDFW-TV that the charge was dropped because the arrest wasn’t consistent with what officers were called to investigate.
Drain said the arrest wasn’t racially motivated, but Reese disagrees.
“Just ‘cause I’m Black, that’s it. It’s ‘cause I’m Black, I fit a description. It hurts, man,” Reese told KDFW. “I don’t even think the call would’ve happened [if I wasn’t Black]. Honestly, I really don’t.”