Viral Video Shows Men Handcuffed, Wrongly Accused Of Shoplifting

FRISCO, TX -- A video showing two men, one white and one black, getting handcuffed and wrongly accused of shoplifting in Frisco's Stonebriar Centre has since gone viral and raised concerns over racial profiling. The video was posted on YouTube by Ro Lockett, 28, who can be seen getting detained by Frisco Police after he, Brandon Kibart, and Lockett's children looked on. The pair were handcuffed near where Santa Claus was meeting children in the mall.

Lockett and Kibart were reportedly stopped by police after a FinishLine employee said she suspected them of shoplifting $600 worth of goods, the Dallas Morning News reported. After both men were handcuffed, a FinishLine employee looked through their bags and determined nothing had been stolen.

"I struggle to find peace, reassurance or comfort that the America I live in is for the people, by the people and of the people. Stalked as if we were prey as we shopped and then ambushed by Frisco police, I stood handcuffed helplessly as my children, friend and myself were humiliated and victimized based on an assumption that we had stolen merchandise," Lockett wrote on YouTube. "As the video demonstrates , no discretion or consideration was given as we were approached and demanded to surrender our bags , in the middle of the mall , to be searched."

Lockett's video has since been viewed more than 120,000 times as of Monday morning. It has prompted a review by the Frisco Police Department.

"This incident highlights the importance of 'comply now, complain later,'" the police department said in a statement. "By all accounts it appears that this is what Mr. Lockett and Mr. Kibart have done, which gives us the opportunity to evaluate our response to determine what happened and if there is opportunity for improvement."

Lockett said the incident reminded him of "the talk" he received as a child in terms of being black in America, he wrote on YouTube.

"[T]hat being black, I'm presumed guilty until proven innocent in America...something I never understood or felt applied to me until this," Lockett added. "Our lives forever changed, my children's hurt and pain didn't and won't stop with the you're good to go now."

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Photo by Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for UNITAS