JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A group of ministers and others are demanding answers from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office after a prominent area pastor said an officer held a gun to his head after he was pulled over last month because the officer thought the window tint in the car was too dark.
Darien Bolden Sr., a pastor who lives in Jacksonville and leads First Missionary Baptist Church in Fernandina Beach, was not arrested or ticketed, but he feels he and his nephew, who was with him in the car, could easily have been shot and killed.
People who heard Bolden's story publicly for the first time at a town meeting Friday morning said they were angry. They said Bolden's only crime was driving while black.
The traffic stop happened July 23 near the intersection of 19th Street and Boulevard. Bolden said he was driving through the area with his nephew because he was looking to buy a house in the neighborhood where he grew up.
When the JSO officer pulled him over, Bolden said he told the officer right away that he had a gun and a concealed weapons permit to carry it. He said he looked over to the glove box to indicate where the gun was located, then looked back at the officer.
"I turned, only to be facing the barrel of a 9 mm Glock," Bolden said. "I throw my hands up. I say to him, 'Sir, I just want to go home today.' He said, 'We all want to go home.'"
Bolden said the officer made a remark that this is not the type of neighborhood he should live in, and then allowed him to leave.
Neither Bolden nor his nephew were charged with any crime and no ticket or report was written. Bolden said he complained to the Sheriff's Office about a gun being pulled on him.
"I have not heard from the sheriff. I was told he was going to call. I have not received a call from him as of yet," Bolden said.
News4Jax asked the Sheriff's Office for any documents and a statement. Lauri-Ellen Smith, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office's senior public affairs executive, released a statement about the incident.
Representatives of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office have been in touch with Rev. Dr. Bolden to discuss last week's event and his concerns and allegations. This matter will be thoroughly investigated by the JSO. We can’t discuss the matter because it is an active investigation."
Smith added it doesn't appear JSO was invited to Friday morning's town meeting at Central Baptist Institutional Church in Jacksonville, there was a lot of venting about the treatment of the city's minority citizens.
"The greatest threat to a black man in Jacksonville is JSO," the Rev. James Sampson.
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith, a former JSO officer, attended the meeting.
"If the officer pointed the gun at the pastor, he has to explain what the threat was," Smith said. "What did you see that was a threat that caused you to point the weapon directly at the citizen?"
Bolden, who is past president of the Baptist Minister's Conference, feels what happened to him could happen to anyone.
"I think it's more training that has to take place amongst our Jacksonville sheriff's officers. Think they need more training when it comes to race and race relations," he said.
Ben Frazier, of the Northside Coalition, used this as another example of why the city needs a citizen's review board.
"This charge alleges abuse of power by a police officer during a routine traffic stop," Frazier said. "The CRB would investigate allegations of police misconduct at JSO."