Pregnant mother lashes out at police who pulled guns on her 8-year-old boy after stopping her on freeway and mistaking him for a suspect
A pregnant mother has lashed out at officers who pulled her car over on a California highway because they thought her son was a wanted juvenile.
Shanice Stewart, who is nine months pregnant, was driving her son Brandon to soccer practice on October 17 around 5 p.m. when several police cars stopped her.
A helicopter hovered over her car as five patrol vehicles surrounded her. Officers soon emerged and headed toward her with guns drawn.
“My son has feared for his life driving on the highway like me,” Stewart said.
She had first noticed an officer behind her turning on his lights. Stewart thought he had to come by, so she drove to the left shoulder of the road, but then four other police cars joined him.
The pregnant mother and her eight-year-old son Brandon (photo) were stopped by several police cars on October 17 around 5 p.m. They told the mother they believed her son was a wanted juvenile they were looking for
After police arrested Stewart, she confronted them to find out why. Then they told her they thought her son was someone else they were looking for
Wondering if she was being pulled over for a traffic violation, Stewart moved her car to the right side of the road when she saw a helicopter hovering over her car.
“They completely shut down the highway to pull me over while I was pregnant and my 8-year-old baby was in the car.” Stewart said in a Facebook post about the incident.
She then cooperated with the officers and threw her keys out the window before slowly exiting the vehicle with her hands in the air.
Brandon had also jumped out of the car because he feared for his mother’s life and begged them not to hurt her.
“My mom just took me to practice,” the eight-year-old told them, according to Stewart.
One of the officers called her to apologize after they noticed he “wasn’t the suspect they were looking for.”
Stewart said, “They mistook my 8-year-old son as the suspect described him (a drug dealer who was part of two home invasions).”
Stewart said police told her her third-grader matched the description of a juvenile suspect they had been monitoring for two years.
The suspect is wanted for two crimes, including possession of weapons.
“His hair texture, his white shirt, that he had on his practice gear,” Stewart said.
Police let the mother and son (pictured) go when they realized they had mistakenly identified the son as someone else. They are both traumatized by the incident
A spokesperson for the Sacramento Police Department told DailyMail.com that SPD officers were involved in an operation on Oct. 17 in search of a juvenile wanted on two misdemeanor warrants, including a warrant for weapons possession, when they encountered Stewart.
The officers also told the mother that they saw her and her son get into her car and that they looked like the suspect. Stewart said no officers were near her home when they left in the car.
“You followed me from 12:00 and treated me like an armed subject. You wasted taxpayer money by using a helicopter and multiple officers to close the highway for my 8 year old son,” Stewart said in her post.
Stewart also posted a video showing what happened when she and her son were pulled over.
In the video, police stand behind her car as she approaches and talks to one of them.
Another officer looks up at the loud helicopter above and waves his hand in the air.
Stewart posted what happened and included videos of the moment four officers realized they had made a mistake and thought her son was a criminal
The mother and son were arrested on their way to football practice. Stewart thought she was being pulled over for a traffic stop before she noticed police weapons and the helicopter above her car
A spokesperson for the Sacramento Police Department told DailyMail.com that SPD officers were involved in an operation on Oct. 17 in search of a juvenile wanted on two misdemeanor warrants, including a warrant for weapons possession, when they encountered Stewart.
“The Sacramento Police Department is aware of a traffic stop involving our officers that has recently received attention on social media.
‘From a distance, officers saw a juvenile, who they believed was the wanted suspect, enter a vehicle with tinted windows.
“All windows on the sides and rear of the vehicle were heavily tinted. Based on the information about the firearms history, a risk stop was performed.
“As officers conducted the check and rolled down the windows, they realized that the juvenile in the vehicle was not the wanted suspect, and at that point the high-risk check was terminated.
‘We must acknowledge that there has been a case of mistaken identity. Our officers provided explanations and apologies to the mother and her son.
“Our department has been in contact with the mother since the incident. We recognize the impact that police interactions can have on our community members. This incident is currently under review.”