Southpinellas: Police blunder startles mother, daughter

PINELLAS PARK - Shonda Aires bought a Diet Pepsi at the Walgreens on Sunday night. Then she left the store with her daughter, Simone Barnes, 13.

"Before I knew it, two cops were on the side of us demanding that we stop," Aires said. "They had the guns pointed at us. ... I didn't even think a gun of that size existed."

Aires and her daughter were ordered to get against the wall and be quiet. "So that's what we did," Aires said. "I thought they would have shot me if we hadn't done it."

The Pinellas Park police officers spoke into their radios and, without explaining, left Aires and Simone standing against the wall.

It turns out the officers, who had received a report about a woman with a gun, were at the wrong Walgreens.

And they should have been looking for a white woman. Aires and her daughter are black.

"There's no mistaking my race," said Aires, 35, a Seminole resident and customer service representative for Progress Energy.

Pinellas Park police Capt. Mike Haworth confirmed Tuesday that the department made mistakes.

Officers were told to go to the Walgreens at 66th Street N and 102nd Avenue, he said. They had a report that a "distraught" white woman had threatened to shoot employees at the store. Two police cars were dispatched. One went to the correct Walgreens. The other headed to the Walgreens at Park Boulevard and 66th Street, where Aires and her daughter were shopping.

Haworth said officers who had gone to the correct Walgreens did find the woman, but she had no gun and wasn't arrested. He said the department opened an internal affairs investigation after Aires filed a complaint. "We will certainly take that complaint seriously," Haworth said.

Aires, who has never been arrested, said she was horrified. "I can't even express the fear that we had," she said.

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Comments on this article

by Ericka	04/03/07 10:32 AM
Imagine you are with your child coming out of a convenience store. While you are walking out, two uniformed officers detain you with guns drawn... No explanation given... Then leave you both there. Now, how do you feel? Explain this to your child.

by pinellascountycopwatch	04/02/07 10:25 AM
...and they detained a woman of a completely different race who was with her daughter. If these cops can't even follow simple directions, they certainly shouldn't be in that profession. copwatch.bravehost.com

by pinellas County Copwatch	04/02/07 10:18 AM
This goes to those of you who are defending these officers by saying "you don't know all the facts"... Those officers received a call about a white woman with a gun at the walgreens on 66th and 102nd. Yet, they wound up at a completely different...

by a mom	04/01/07 10:47 PM
i'm white. my daughter is biracel. its a race issue. when we go threw airports we get checked very well. they think she is an arab. until you see it happen to your family dont judge.

by BEWILDERED	03/30/07 06:03 AM
DID YOU KNOW THAT PINELLAS PARK HAS A BLIND GUY IN A WHEELCHAIR THAT GETS THINGS DONE BETTER THAN THAT?

by rt	03/29/07 07:58 PM
why does everyone keep saying this has nothing to do with race? wishful thinking? this was a woman with a child.... how many times do you think police officers pull guns on women with children?.... or on the first people they see upon pulling up?

by Robert Barnett	03/29/07 06:26 PM
I was an officer for 10 years a long time ago. There may be an explanation to some of this story but we do not know enough to make a call. Contrary to this board PPPD is a very respected agcy. May be a case of "one bad apple"... think before you type

by Stephanie	03/29/07 04:30 PM
Hey, Didn't the officer learn his colors in Preschool or kindergarten.

by stiles	03/29/07 03:24 PM
hey mikey i know you cant suspend someone for being STUPID but it just goes to show that the PPPD will always be REDNECKS

by Concerned	03/29/07 12:57 PM
Police Officers face various encounters with the public. Try and look at this is a diffrent aspect. Consider what they were responding to. It doesn't matter if your black, white, or yellow for that matter.

by Tosha	03/29/07 10:16 AM
This is terrible. Police need to know that they are not above the law. You don't just walk in a store and pull a gun on people without getting a description first. FOLLOW PROCEDURE COP BOYS. How would you like someone pulling a gun on your wife??

by Common Sense	03/29/07 10:07 AM
I'm stunned by the comments on this page. Most of you are not getting the point. She was terrified and didn't even know why she was being detained. I can understand mistakes, this isn't just a mistake it's poor judgment and lack of listening skills

by John	03/29/07 03:30 AM
Whether it was racism or incompetence is irrelevent. They should be canned either way.

by Phil	03/28/07 08:37 PM
Hey Facts, no-one on his board was there, but the woman in question was, and SHE says they pointed the guns at her.

by Carolyn	03/28/07 08:27 PM
If they were dispatched to a Dunkin Donuts, they would have gotten the address right. Bad cop, no donut.

by bottom line ~	03/28/07 07:48 PM
the bottom line is these two really screwed up badly. i hope she sues and gets the money she deserves.... this is just bad training and bad desicions on the two officers.... they should feel horrible.

by Justinian	03/28/07 07:32 PM
I doubt that this was racism. Still, the cops did go to the completely wrong address and did draw guns on someone who didn't even remotely match the suspect's description. Blatant stupidity isn't any better than racism in a cop.

by Common Sense	03/28/07 05:42 PM
Police go by what they are being told by a dispatcher..What if they are wrong? Easy to be a critic when your life isnt on the line. Another case of someone looking for a payday

by don	03/28/07 05:34 PM
THE FACTS WERE THAT THE OFFICERS DID HAVE THEIR WEAPONS DRAWN BUT NOT POINTED AT AIRES SO THEY MUST A HAD THEM POINTED AT EACH OUTHER THINK GOD

by kml	03/28/07 05:18 PM
Having a weapon pointed at you is one of the most terrifying feelings in the world (I know, it's happened to me many times). I've learned to block it out.

by Liana	03/28/07 05:06 PM
This is not a race issue. Everything that involves blacks is not a race issue, unless the people spreading it around are racists themselves. Get the facts.

by Holly	03/28/07 04:58 PM
I agree with by Facts. Not one of us were there, so we don't know ALL the facts!

by Rickster	03/28/07 04:53 PM
Police State is right. I can't believe some of the posters feel is it OK for Police to draw guns and then say they are sorry. Time for ASKGARY or something. PPPD hasn't changed. And what's wrong with Publix Parking attendants? Much more professional

by Facts...yea Right	03/28/07 03:53 PM
The facts are they were dispatched to walgreens to look for a W/F with a gun not a BF. I don't think it is a race issue, just an issue of stupidity. For the record having a gun drawn on you is probably the scariest thing ever. I am glad she was calm.

by Sarah	03/28/07 03:49 PM
Mistaken identity could happen to any one-So should police only try to apprehend suspects AFTER they have been convicted? As long as Ms. Aries was not mistreated, there is no issue. I would rather the police be too careful then not be protected.

by A Close Friend	03/28/07 03:04 PM
Suprisingly, this does happen all the time. But until we stand up to these TYPES of occurances it won't stop. As Ms. Aires friend I know how she & her daughter were affected by this situation. It has to stop right is right, wrong is wrong, period!

by mikey	03/28/07 02:49 PM
Stiles...Stupidity is not a suspendable offense at the PPPD. That should be obvious to any resident!

by Dan	03/28/07 02:47 PM
This doesn't seem race related.They were ordered to stand by the wall and were left there.If they were suspects, the police wouldn't leave them there alone. It's so cliche tho, Dave Chapelle and others have jokes about this exact thing...

by gladys	03/28/07 02:43 PM
It's a good thing they didn't shoot you like they usually do "black suspects".

by Fiftyish	03/28/07 02:37 PM
I was working in rural PA, walking to the office, when a local cop drew on me and ordered me to his car. I told him where I worked and asked him to call my boss. He left. I called his boss later, and the boss laughed. I'm a white woman. Bad happens.

by John	03/28/07 02:06 PM
It's amazing that an error of this type can happen while the police in the US are already trying to defend their off duty behavior. Seems the more we look the more we see.

by Laura	03/28/07 02:05 PM
Maybe they were filming an episode of Reno 911.

by Richard	03/28/07 01:59 PM
Excuse me but using the word stupid and PPPD in the same sentence is adequate. As a resident of PP I have seen the fools in action. The only other worse police department around is Kenneth City

by Facts	03/28/07 01:29 PM
Not one person on this board was actually at the scene. The facts were that the officers did have their weapons drawn but not pointed at Aires. Yes, wrong address, but she and her daughter were moved out of harms way, not treated as hostile.

by Police	03/28/07 01:03 PM
I've encountered many cops that are terrified of blacks. Don't know why, but they are so terrified that just having a black person nearby gives them panic attacks. It's simple. Those cops were afraid.