Two Florida Men Accused Of Harassing Black Teen, Damaging His Car
Two white men were arrested this week after they were accused of racially profiling a Black teen and damaging his car as he drove through a Florida neighborhood.
The incident reportedly occurred on Tuesday (June 14), just before 6 p.m. in the upscale neighborhood of Sanford. It was partially recorded on cellphone video by the teen, Jermaine Jones, and shared on Facebook by his father.
According to NBC News, the two men have been identified by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office as 52-year-old Donald Corsi and 61-year-old Howard Hughes. Both of the men face charges of damaging property while Hughes faces a charge of battery. One of the men accused the 16-year-old of “burning out, racing” through the neighborhood. In the video, Jermaine asks the men to step away from him.
"I'm not in your face. Get out of my neighborhood," one man says.
WESH reports that Corsi and Hughes were arrested on Tuesday and have since posted bond and have been released from jail.
During an interview with NBC News, Niko Jones, Jermaine’s mother, says her son’s alive because he deescalated the situation.
"How could they react this way?" she said. "They were supposed to be the adults in a situation. Turns out my son was the adult in this situation."
The video shows Jermaine's Mercedes-Benz C230 back window shattered with glass littering the backseat and the ground. A large rock is seen sitting in the middle of the seat with a big dent below the shattered glass.
According to an arrest report, Jermaine was driving with a teen friend when the pair of white men “aggressively approached” their vehicle and “assaulted” them with “verbal threats.” One of the men threw a large stone into the back seat while the teens were in the car.
Jarmaine says he was told "Get out of this neighborhood. You don’t belong there," which he took to be said only "because of the color of my skin — because I didn’t make any threats to them."
"I wasn’t putting them in danger," he said, "and I’ve never been in trouble before."
The Jones family has retained a lawyer who said a civil claim against the suspects was likely to be filed on behalf of the family in the coming weeks.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump posted the video on his Instagram account and demanded that the men be held responsible.
“This incident cannot be overlooked! We need to demand that they are held accountable!” he captioned the post, in part.
