Trip to Texas AAU Tournament Turns into Terrifying Nightmare for Little Rock Family
FRISCO, Texas – A Little Rock family left the Residence Inn next to the Dallas Cowboys headquarters Sunday morning to attend an AAU game and soon found themselves in a life-threatening situation as Frisco Police pull them over, blocked off a three-lane tollway and surrounded the vehicle with numerous officers with weapons drawn.
It turns out the whole terrifying event, captured on body cam video released by Frisco PD Friday, happened because the officer who originally pulled the family over didn't enter the correct abbreviation for Arkansas when typing in the license plate.
It began in the hotel parking lot when the officer noticed a black Dodge Charger with an out of state tag. Because Chargers are reportedly considered by police to be high theft targets, so she ran the plate in the system, accidentally typing in AZ instead of AR. When it came back as not matching the vehicle, the officer began making her move.
It hadn't gone unnoticed by the mom driving the vehicle, a lady who identifies herself as DemiJanale on TikTok. Soon after collecting the car from valet and turning onto the road to head toward the gym for a 9 a.m. game, she immediately noticed the police car following her. It backed off for a bit, but shortly after taking the onramp onto the nearby Dallas North Tollway as directed by her GPS, it closed in again.
DemiJanale then told her husband, who identified himself on TikTok as Myron Heard, she was certain the officer was tailing her. In a two-part video describing the incident, she said her husband encouraged her to ignore it and simply focus on making sure they made it to the gym.
However, soon after, in a move that is rare in North Texas because of the inherent danger, the officer flipped on her lights and pulled the family over. Unbeknownst to DemiJanale, stops are executed on the Tollway only in the most extreme of situations because of the high speed traffic and limited space to pull over because of extremely narrow shoulders buffered with concrete barriers,
Unsure as to why she was being pulled over, DemiJanale got her out driver's license and concealed carry license. She chose not to get her insurance out of her glove compartment because a gun tied to her concealed carry permit was locked in there and she didn't want to create a situation that might make the cops uneasy. They waited several minutes with no communication or movement from the officer until several police cars arrived, blocking off the entire southbound portion of the major regional artery.
That's when her husband said five words that sent a chill down her spine and immediately escalated the whole situation.
"My husband looks back and says 'They have their guns out," DemiJanale said in her video post earlier this week. "As soon as he say that, they get on the intercom and they yell 'Everybody put your hands out the car now! I want to see everybody's hands now!'"
The family rolled down the windows down immediately. DemiJanale and her 13-year-old son put their hands out the driver's side while her husband nephew put theirs up out the passenger side. DemiJanale still had had her driver's license and concealed carry permit in her hand. In her TikTok video, she described the first commands of the officer.
"'Keep your hands up!'" she said. "'Nobody put your hands down because we will shoot. Just do what we ask you to do.'"
The released body cam footage stares down the length of the barrel of a pistol pointed toward the vehicle as more commands are given.
"Whatever is in your hand, put it on the roof," the male officer says.
DemiJanale said she immediately dropped both her license and conceal carry permit. She was then told to to open her door and step out of the vehicle, but she couldn't because it was locked.
"I'm trying to open the door and it's locked," she said. "I'm trying to signal to him like 'Hey, I'm trying to do what you said, but it's locked."
That's when the body cam footage shows the officer instruct her to unlock the vehicle, being careful to keep the gun steadily trained.
"Unlock your car. Do it now. Unlock your car."
At this point, DemiJanale says she opened the door before being directed to step out onto the Tollway with her hands up. The police video shows her walk onto the highway where she is given specific instructions.
"Lift up your shirt so we can see your waistband," the officer says. "Now slowly spin around. Slowly spin around. Higher. Lift your shirt higher. Lift the back of your shirt higher."
DemiJanale said she was then reminded again to keep her hands up and do what they say or she will be shot. She was instructed to slowly back up to the officers where she said her hands were pulled behind her and she was patted down.
At this point, she is removed from the area by the officer who pulled her over so they can talk.
"She asks me 'Have you always had these tags?'" DemiJanale said on TikTok. "I'm like 'Yes, ma'am, I've had these tags for years.'"
She can be heard on video saying she is from Little Rock and isn't the type of person to cause trouble.
“I’ve never been in trouble a day in my life,” she says as high emotions take over her shaky voice. “This is scaring the hell out of me. I have bad anxiety.”
She said she then explained that in Arkansas, when you get a new car, you can transfer the tags over to the next vehicle, which clarified why she could have had the license plate for a long time while still driving a 2019 model vehicle. The officer continued to question whether she was sure about the tags and DemiJanale explained that the only thing she could think of is she just transferred registration for her vehicle to the city she lives in now rather recently.
Finally, she said she was informed the license plate was registering as stolen.
"I'm like 'What?'" she said. "'This is my car. I don't understand what you're telling me right now.'"
The officer then asked for her license, at which time she explained where it was located, advised of her concealed carry license, and talked the officer through how to use a key on her key fob to access the glove compartment to gain access to the gun.
While this was going on, she watched her son going through the same process she went through. However, she noticed they put handcuffs on him and were walking him to put him in a police car. At that point on the police footage, she completely breaks, screaming out "That's my baby!" as she convulses in tears.
“Please don’t let them do that to my baby,” she says. “This is very traumatizing. Why is my baby in cuffs?”
Seeing her son placed alone in a police car was too much for DemiJanale, but she said she did her best to get herself together.
"I'm crying," she said. "I've been hyperventilating. I deal with anxiety and depression and I told her that 'Ma'am, I'm sorry. Just give me a second. I am very scared. I deal with anxiety. Just give me a second to calm myself down. There's something my therapist taught me to do that will calm me down."
She said the officer agreed to ask the handcuffs be removed from her son, and then placed DemiJanale in the car before going to gather the driver information off the highway. Meanwhile, she said her husband and nephew were informed the police knew a gun was in the car, and if they made any sudden movement, they would be shot. Heard did the best he could to keep his nephew calm, but it wasn't working.
"My husband explained to me that my nephew is in there literally screaming for his life, and telling him 'Uncle, we are about to die. We are about to die,'" she said. "And he's just keeping him calm telling him 'Hey, they just got wrong people nephew. Just calm down and it's gonna be OK.'"
As that's happening, a police sergeant rushes in and yells for everyone to put their guns down. Officers lower their weapons and her husband and nephew are removed from the car. Eventually, her son is released from the police vehicle also while she remains locked inside.
Roughly sixteen minutes into the ordeal, the original officer is informed of her mistake.
“For real?” she says. “AR is Arkansas, correct?”
A nearby officer lets her know she ran the plate as if it were from Arizona. She owns up to the error, saying “That’s on me.”
Finally, after witnessing a long conversation take place on the road, the mother too is released from the vehicle to be let in on the discussion.
"They said 'Well, we made a mistake,'" DemiJanale said. "'We're sorry. We're humans and we made a mistake.'"
Officers can be heard on camera explaining why things were handled the way they were when Heard and his nephew were first taken out of the vehicle. A young man wearing a gray Barford Elite shirt can been seen as it takes place.
"Normally, when we see things like this, like it makes us believe the vehicle is stolen," the female officer said. "OK, so that's why everything is happening the way it is for our safety and for everyone else. Y'all been coorporative. That's it."
Heard tries to interject in the midst of the explanation and is cut off.
"I understand it's very traumatic," the officer continues. "You've got your son. He's back there. He's fine. OK?"
By the time DemiJanale joins the discussion, her husband and the two young men begin crying as the family is allowed to go on about their day following another apology.
"This is the most exhausting and most traumatizing," DemiJanale said. "I have never been in trouble a day in my life. I may have a speeding ticket or something. I'm a hard working woman. I'm a nurse. My son is in a great school. He's very involved in athletics and just a number of things. I can't make sense of it. I can't. I have cried all day. I am running off maybe two, two and half hours of sleep.
"It's just I can't make sense of it. And why my son was treated that way. Why he was not treated as a child?" she said. "We never presented a threat to them. It's not OK."
DemiJanale goes on to say she is grateful the family made it home alive, but described a mental state that indicates the word safe may not fit the situation.
"And I thank God that we were not physically injured, but we have suffered a lot of mental and emotional trauma from this," she said. "I've cried so much today. I don't know if I have any more tears to cry."
Once word got back to Frisco PD of the multiple TikTok posts making the rounds throughout Collin County, the department had no choice but to acknowledge the incident that was witnessed by numerous residents as they drove to church.
"The Frisco Police Department is aware of information posted on social media regarding a traffic stop this past Sunday," read a Twitter post. "The procedures used during the stop raised concerns, and FPD leadership initiated a comprehensive review of those procedures that same day."
Eventually, a formal statement was drawn up by Frisco Police Chief David Shilson and released, along with the police video.
“We made a mistake. Our department will not hide from its mistakes. Instead, we will learn from them. The officer involved quickly accepted responsibility for what happened, which speaks to integrity. I’ve spoken with the family. I empathize with them and completely understand why they’re upset. I apologized on behalf of our department and assured them that we will hold ourselves accountable and provide transparency through the process. This incident does not reflect the high standard of service that our officers provide on a daily basis to our residents, businesses and visitors.”
But no amount of apology, no matter how sincere, can change the terror the family felt that day. Several commenters on TikTok urged DemiJanele to sue and reports have indicated civil rights groups are looking into the matter. However, the Little Rock mother doesn't seem to find comfort in written statements or possible lawsuits. She's simply left to face the image of what she saw happen to her son.
"Every time I see the video of my baby, I just can't believe it," she said. "I feel like this is a very bad dream."
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