'Is This The Dude?': Cops Arrest Random Black Man In New Footage

HOLLYWOOD, CA — A federal judge has unsealed LAPD body footage of a 2019 incident where a Black man says he was handcuffed, thrown to the ground and jailed after being racially profiled by two officers.

The incident took place on May 24, 2019, when a woman called 911 to say her ex-boyfriend — who turned out to be white — was violating a restraining order in Hollywood, although she didn't share an address or details about the man's description. Officers arrived at Fountain Boulevard near Highland Avenue, where they saw 42-year-old Antone Austin, who says he was bringing in his trash cans at the time.

The following video contains graphic footage.

In the body cam footage, one officer is heard asking "Is this the dude?" after seeing Austin on the sidewalk. After the other officer responds "Probably," the two jump out and tell him to turn around, before promptly handcuffing him as Austin asks why he's being detained.

The exchange grows more physical as the officer admits "I don't know who I'm looking for," but forces him against the wall as Austin calls for help. Eventually his girlfriend, Michelle Miclewicz, exits the apartment and tries to intervene, but was also handcuffed and arrested.

Both Austin and his girlfriend were held in jail for hours and forced to pay $57,000 in bail. He later told journalist Jasmyne Cannick that while in jail, officers repeatedly rewatched the body cam footage showing his girlfriend, who was seen naked after her jacket fell off during the struggle.

“They did this right in front of me,” Antone said. “They played it over and over.”

Austin was initially charged with resisting arrest and assault on a police officer, although the assault charge was later dropped. His girlfriend was charged with interfering with an arrest.

Austin is suing the city of Los Angeles over the incident, with the jury trial set to begin this October. The City Attorney's Office had asked for the body camera footage to be withheld, arguing in court documents that the release of the footage would "interfere with the officers' expectation of privacy."

However, a federal judge denied their request, removing the court order that kept the video sealed for months.

“The Court is not persuaded by Defendant’s arguments and concludes that Defendant has failed to carry its burden of showing 'good cause' for the retention of the confidentiality designation for the body camera footage in issue,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian said.

In court filings, the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office argue that the couple's claim is without merit and should be dismissed, and that Austin and his girlfriend are to blame for the incident. Attorneys for the city also claim that the two LAPD officers are immune from liability.

The couple's attorney, Faisal Gill, said the officers didn't know who they were looking for when they arrived at the scene in response to a domestic disturbance call involving the white neighbor.

"It was racial profiling," Gill alleged. "No question about it and to add injury to insult they arrest my clients, put them in jail ... Even the woman who called 911 tried to tell the officers that they had the wrong person."

An LAPD spokesman said that according to policy, the department does not comment on pending litigation.

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Hollywood Man Wants Body Cam Footage Released From 2019 Arrest

City News Service contributed to this report.