CLEARFIELD, Utah — Special Olympian Shawn Nicholas has gone to Summit Lounge in Clearfield for years where he sings karaoke and gathers with retired military members.
But one early morning over the summer, Nicholas was walking home from the bar and was stopped by police.
“I’ve just been thinking about what happened to me… a lot," Nicholas said.
A YouTube video of the incident has gone viral with people accusing the officer of misconduct. The video already has more than 330,000 views. The officer’s footage shows Nicholas walking in what police say was a dimly-lit closed business area around 3 a.m. back in July.
Police say they asked Nicholas to stop multiple times, but he would not. Police say Nicholas also said no when the officer asked for his ID.
“You’re being weird," the officer says at one point.
Mike Miller, a friend of over 10 years, says this is the fourth time Nicholas has been stopped by police.
Nicholas said since the footage was released, he’s felt restless.
“Yesterday he had trouble sleeping. He’s had nightmares, he really doesn’t like walking home anymore,” Miller said. “This is not actually the first time they’ve stopped him on his walk home.”
Clearfield Police said the officer didn’t recognize that Nicholas was possibly disabled and thought he was intoxicated and acting unusual.
Police stopped Nicholas for jaywalking and said he was walking in an area that’s known for criminal activity.
“Courts have said an officer’s hunch is not reasonable suspicion. You have to have a specific, reasonable, articulate suspicion of a crime. Not just because the cop telling him, ‘You’re being weird. What are you doing?’ That is not suspicion of a crime," Miller said. “That doesn’t give you carte blanche to creep next to somebody, follow them, and harass them.”
The YouTuber in the video — "The Civil Rights Lawyer" — spoke against the charge.
“I looked up the Utah statute... The jaywalking statute only applies to specific locations where there are basically traffic lights at both ends," the YouTuber said. "Doesn't apply to him walking home from the bar where he was walking, through this suburban area, through parking lots, and across residential streets where there are no traffic lights."
Miller has helped Nicholas through the court process. He says Nicholas and his family are moving forward with a lawsuit.
“Interfering with an arresting officer is something you get when you’re being arrested for doing something wrong. He never did anything wrong," Miller said.
Police said in a statement that they are making adjustments to training, behavior, and evaluations after people expressed their concerns about the conduct shown in the footage. They said the officer was justified in using force to subdue Nicholas, but also said the officer was mistaken in applying the "jaywalking" statute.
Miller says the case was dropped. They’re looking for a lawyer to file a federal suit. They’re also planning to gather community members to rally at Clearfield’s police department.
“It wasn’t anything about justice; it was about lazy police work," he said.
