A Florida police officer is being investigated by internal affairs after video surfaced of his physical altercation with a military veteran over a handicapped-accessible parking space outside a Walgreens store.
Riviera Beach Police Sgt. Garry Wilson is now on paid administrative leave following an incident Sunday involving Isiah James, a wounded U.S. Army combat veteran who served nearly 10 years.
According to James, he and his father stopped at the store, and while paying inside, Officer Wilson walked in.
Wilson told him he wasn’t supposed to park in the handicapped parking spot because he wasn’t handicapped.
Wilson is seen on the video challenging James, 29, despite the fact James has a valid handicapped-parking permit.
Click to watch video (Warning: Contains explicit language):
[jwplayer NIbsLWOt]
The incident, caught on James’ cell-phone video, shows an angry exchange between James and Wilson after the officer ordered the veteran to move his Dodge Magnum out of the handicapped spot.
“You are not the arbitrator of my disability; you don’t get to decide if I’m disabled or not,” says James, who reveals during the exchange that he served tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. James also explains he suffered a traumatic brain injury during his service and has screws in his leg which make it difficult to walk long distances.
Sgt. Wilson continues to challenge James, saying the veteran is “in the wrong” because he “can walk.”
“What I’m saying is there are people in wheelchairs who can’t get out and you just get out of the car and float right into the store,” Wilson is heard saying to Thomas.
“You got out the car, and there’s people that are handicapped man,” he said, before James replies that he is a wounded veteran. “Does that make you any better than a citizen or an old lady in the wheelchair that really need that space?”
“So I don’t really need it?” James yells back.
“I’m just sayin’, you walkin’,” Wilson replies.
What followed was an expletive-laced argument between the two men.
James started recording the interaction with the sergeant. On video, the police officer appears to lunge toward James and slap the phone out of his hands.
“Move the camera out of my face,” Wilson says.
“You can’t do that, officer,” Thomas says. “You broke my phone.”
Wilson also asked for Thomas’ license and calls in the plate number to check for outstanding warrants.
The altercation lasts approximately 15 minutes, and draws to a close when another Riviera Beach police officer responds to Thomas’ 9-1-1 call.
“To me, having a disability is already a stigma,” James said in an interview Tuesday with the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “I don’t want to stand out in front of a Walgreens and be berated because of my injuries. I don’t want to have to sit there and shout out at the top of my lungs explaining to you that my body is broken through no fault of my own.”
The police department on Monday released a statement on its Facebook account about the incident and said it is under investigation.
“We, as an organization, share the same gratitude and respect for Veterans,” the statement on Facebook reads. “We support Veterans and appreciate their commitment to serve our country.
James said he filed a formal complaint with Riviera Beach and was told the issue was being taken up by the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office.
Days after the incident, James told the newspaper he is still furious about the way he was treated by someone who is supposed to uphold the law.
“It’s sad that he decided to assault me because — in his mind — because I can take 10 steps, I must not be handicapped,” he said. “I would give up these disabilities in a heartbeat to be a regular 28-year-old guy.”
