MADISON, Wis. — A Madison woman said she’s traumatized to this day after being held at gunpoint by officers who believed she was driving a stolen car on June 16.
Cassandra Smith said she was working as a service medical provider for Priority Medical Solutions, transporting people to and from their medical appointments. Smith was driving southbound on I-39, stuck in traffic when officers pulled her over.
“There were about five guns drawn and pointed at my window,” she said.
“They started yelling like 50 different commands at me. ‘Turn the car off! Get out! Don’t move!’ So I was just wondering how can I possibly do all of those commands and not move? They said, ‘If you move we’ll shoot.’ “At this point I was really just preparing myself to take a shot.”
Her passenger Isaiah Johnson, who said he was in-training accompanying her, tried to take out his cell phone and record what was happening.
“Officers were like, ‘We’re about to shoot. If you reach for the phone we are going to shoot you.’ So I was scared for my life as well,” Johnson said.
Smith said she cooperated with officers, was placed in handcuffs and put into the back of a squad car but still wasn’t told why she was being arrested.
In dashcam video released by the DOT, interactions between an officer and Smith can be heard. The officer explains to Smith why they pulled her over.
“We have a stolen car,” the officer said.
“That vehicle was not stolen,” Smith responded.
“Okay, on our system it comes back stolen,” the officer said.
“That is not a stolen car! That is a company car and I’ll call my boss right now,” Smith responded.
Officers let Smith call her boss. In the dashcam video, Smith explains that she is sitting in the back of the squad car because police believe she is driving a stolen car. Officers were eventually able to tell Smith what happened.
In the video, an officer explains to Smith, “Some time in March or April your boss had another employee, not you, actually take that car. So your boss listed it as stolen.”
“He hasn’t cleared that up yet?” Smith asked.
“No, that’s what happened,” the officer said.
“You guys pointed guns like do you know all of the stuff that’s going on in the news right now with Black people being shot?” Smith said.
“Yes, it was just a misunderstanding,” the officer responded.
In a one-on-one interview, Smith said, “I felt like all of my life up until then, they were to serve and protect. But who were they serving and protecting at this point?”
The Wisconsin DOT told News 3 Now’s Jamie Perez the officers involved were responding according to protocol.
According to documents the DOT sent, the policy explains, “If you are stopping a vehicle that is listed as stolen, in most circumstances you should handle that as a high-risk vehicle contact.”
The document explains that a high risk vehicle contact happens when the “officer’s perception of danger is very high. Typically, these contacts involve multiple officers using guns.”
The policy guidelines also outline the general provision for use of force. The document says, “Sworn employees are authorized to utilize reasonable force to accomplish legitimate lawful enforcement objectives (i.e. achieve and maintain control of resistive subjects, detain persons reasonably suspected of criminal behavior, make lawful arrests, defend themselves or others and prevent escape.”
“If that’s their policy, they need a new one,” Smith said.
Smith plans to take legal action soon.
“Those officers just go home at the end of the day with their families like nothing even happened. But here you’ve impacted lives, drastically,” she said.
Smith said right after this incident happened, she was let go from her job and is currently unable to pay her bills.
We reached out to her former employer for comment and they have not responded to our request.
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