GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A Gainesville driver is crying foul after he was pulled over for a traffic stop by members of the Alachua County Sheriff's Office SWAT team.
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The deputies, riding in an armored vehicle, stopped Lucas Jewell at Gainesville's main library on Saturday after the Florida Gators spring football game. Jewell recorded the incident with his cellphone, and now the video is going viral on the Internet.
"I'm really getting pulled over by a tank right now," Jewell can be heard saying in the cellphone video. "You know, the Supreme Court ruled that you're legally allowed to flick off a police officer."
Later, the deputy says, "Mr. Jewell, stand between the headlights. Stand between the headlights where I told you to! If I have to ask you again, you will be put in handcuffs and arrested for resisting. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, sir," Jewell answers. "I will comply."
DOCUMENT: SWAT team traffic stop incident report
Jewell, a 23-year-old Santa Fe College student originally from Jacksonville, said he gave deputies the finger, because he didn't like them driving the armored vehicle down his neighborhood streets.
He said he's a Navy veteran and was offended to see them acting like the military, even wearing similar uniforms. He said he felt he did nothing wrong, and he thinks his video proves it.
In the video, the deputy tells Jewell that extending a hand out the driver's side window for the obscene gesture is considered an "improper hand signal."
One of the deputies also told Jewell that they thought he and his girlfriend, who was in the front passenger seat, were involved in a sex act while driving. Jewell denied it.
According to the ACSO offense report filed by Deputy Charles Drake, Jewell began yelling at a crowd of onlookers to take pictures before raising the phone he was using to record the encounter and chanting, "police state," repeatedly.
"I see this tank, and I see these militarized police wearing Kevlar, and I decide that I want to express my dissatisfaction with the police state and with the fact that a militarized vehicle is patrolling in my neighborhood streets," Jewell told News4Jax. "I think it is really ridiculous that I was pulled over by a tank."
At one point, a deputy asked Jewell to stop pointing his camera at him, which Jewell also said is a violation of his rights.
"I don't mind you recording that, but you're not gonna point it at me, because there are firearms that are made of devices like that," the deputy says on the video. "If you wanna film all of us, I don't mind that, but set the camera up where it can film all of us."
Jewell told News4Jax he hopes the viral video will bring about change in law enforcement. In the end, they gave him a written warning for the "improper hand signal" traffic violation.
"I'm sure that if they could have ticketed me or arrested me, they would have," Jewell said.
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said flipping off a police officer is not necessarily an improper hand signal. Smith, a retired police officer, said deputies do have the right to pull people over, even if they are in armored vehicles, because the vehicle is clearly marked.
"They weren't physically aggressive with him," Smith said after watching the online video. "They answered all his questions. He was asking, 'Why is the vehicle used?' He was upset they were in that vehicle, and the police officer might have been upset that he was flipped off. But that happens. It's happened to me several times, and you have to let that go."
After learning of the video, the ACSO launched an internal investigation. In a statement, a spokesman said:
"We fully recognize the serious allegations brought forth by the driver and many others who have posted their feelings on Facebook. Sheriff (Sadie) Darnell has personally contacted the driver and assured him that a complete investigation will occur. … There will be a thorough investigation and the facts will lead us to a proper conclusion."
Jewell said people have told him nothing will come of an internal investigation, but he said he remains hopeful.