My name is Jack and I've been a cop for several years now. I've been happily married for most of those. My wife, Mary, is absolutely gorgeous with brunette hair and brownish green eyes complementing her curvy body. She works as a dispatcher in my department, which is where we met.
The problems started on patrol one night. I received a lookout for a black male, about 6'4" tall and 220 lbs, wearing all black. The black man had just robbed a liquor store only two blocks from me and was last seen running in my direction.
About a minute later, I saw a muscular black man come around the corner of the block. He was wearing all black and matched the rest of the description. He was walking away from me and didn't seem to notice my cruiser when he turned the corner.
I called for back up and exited my cruiser to approach him quietly on foot. As I got within a few feet of the suspect I announced "Police, stop!" but he ignored me! I tried again as I drew my baton, expecting some kind of trick from the suspect, but he continued to ignore me.
I grabbed the suspect by his arm to try to arrest him but he spun and pushed me back with one hand. I stumbled back but I caught my balance. I tried to hit his upper arm with my baton but he ducked at the last moment and I missed his arm, hitting him in the head instead!
The suspect went down to the ground, unconscious. I hurried and handcuffed the suspect. I called dispatch to tell them I had the robbery suspect in custody as adrenaline coursed through my veins.
Then everything went downhill. Dispatch called and advised me there initial discription was wrong, and the suspect was actually a white male wearing all black. That's when I noticed the man I had in handcuffs was wearing earphones and probably couldn't hear my commands.
I called dispatch and told them to send me an ambulance. This was not good. I could lose my job or get sued for this. All because of someone giving me the wrong description.
The black man, who I would later learn is DaQuan Harper, was still unconscious as the EMTs loaded him into the ambulance.
A few days later I heard from another officer DaQuan had woken up in the hospital. I had to go see him and try to explain what happened.
I arrived at the hospital on my day off and told DaQuan who I was. I explained what happened, and how he matched the first description, and how he must not have heard me tell him to stop.
DaQuan was pissed, and understandably so. He cursed at me and told me he was going to "sue the fuck out of me."
"Shit!", I thought to myself, "This is literally my worst nightmare."
I went home and told my wife what had happened at the hospital. She was worried too. Mary said she would make DaQuan some fresh cookies and we could take them to him in the hospital to try to win him over. "Maybe he will show some compassion once he sees you have a family." Mary said.
The next day Mary and I loaded into our car and made our way to the hospital to see DaQuan. As we entered his room I said, "DaQuan, this is my wife Mary. Mary made you some cookies. They have to be better than the hospital food." I joked uneasily.
Upon seeing my wife, DaQuan noticeably perked up. "Thank you for the cookies, Mary, but it doesn't excuse what Jack here did."
"You're right, DaQuan. We just want you to recover and maybe reconsider this lawsuit. Afterall, it was all a big misunderstanding."
There was an awkward silence but after a few moments DaQuan announced, "I have to piss."
