'Mistaken Identity' Arrest: Richfield Releases Dashcam Video

RICHFIELD, MN — The city of Richfield has released dashcam footage after officers mistakenly arrested a Black man Friday. Police wrongly thought that there was a felony warrant out for Darrius Strong, the man they pulled over.

Over the weekend, the Richfield Police Department apologized for what it called "an unfortunate case of mistaken identity."

The incident happened Friday afternoon while officers from Richfield, Edina, and Bloomington were working traffic enforcement as part of Minnesota’s "Toward Zero Deaths" program.

Around 1 p.m., a Richfield police officer on the detail working in Bloomington "noted a vehicle was speeding," according to authorities. The officer pulled over the vehicle, which was being driven by Strong, on Old Shakopee Road near Logan Avenue.

According to police, the registered owner of the car that Strong was in had a suspended Minnesota driver’s license and felony-level warrant for his arrest.

"Are you Darrius?" an officer asked with her gun pointed towards the street while Strong was in the car.

Strong held his empty hands out of the window.

"So you know you got the warrant?"

"I got a warrant?" Strong asked, surprised.

"Yeah, you do," the officer responded.

Strong was searched, put into handcuffs and placed into the squad car. The Richfield Police Department says Strong was compliant the entire time.

In his own video posted on Facebook, Strong says that "George Floyd came into my head" during the incident.

Officers at the scene told him he was being detained for a warrant related to check forgery. Strong said he doesn't write checks.

"Once again, George Floyd popped into my head," Strong said, referencing Floyd's Memorial Day arrest related to a counterfeited $20. "Please, please, please let me make it back home to my daughter. My fiancée. My friends," he thought.

Officers eventually learned that another person falsely used Strong’s name, which resulted in an arrest warrant being issued in his name.

Strong was released at the scene.

Watch the dashcam footage released by the city of Richfield below:

Richfield police say only one officer had her gun drawn, but Strong contends that multiple officers had their guns out.

"This was no doubt a stressful and emotional experience for Mr. Strong," Richfield police said in statement Saturday.

"While they were doing their jobs based on what they knew at the time of the traffic stop, officers regret the stress Mr. Strong felt. The three cities will work with the BCA to make sure Mr. Strong’s record is cleared and will continue to have important conversations in our communities regarding police-citizen encounters and how they need to reflect the best of all involved."