ABOVE: Watch Ben Tracy report on the investigation that led to actress Daniele Watts being placed in handcuffs.
LOS ANGELES – Actress Daniele Watts, who appeared in Django Unchained, is complaining that she was handcuffed and briefly put in the back of a squad car after a public display of affection with her white companion.
Brian Lucas told KCBS-TV in a joint interview with Watts that he suspects police mistook the black actress for a prostitute “because he was asking me questions like, ‘Who is she? How do you know her? Are you together?”
The Los Angeles Police Department said Sunday that officers detained the pair after a complaint that two people were “involved in indecent exposure” in a silver Mercedes. Watts was detained until police determined no crime was committed.
According to TMZ, eyewitnesses told police that Watts was having sex with Lucas in their car with the door open.
Watts told the station that she and Lucas were embracing in the car Thursday when police showed up. The station said the two have been dating for the past year.
“I knew that the clearest thing for me to do was to own my right as a free person and say, ‘I haven’t done anything wrong and I know I’m not required to give you my ID,'” she said.
WATCH: Django Unchained actress Daniele Watts explains the series of events that led to being detained.
Watts said she walked away and another officer put her in handcuffs and into the back of a patrol car. She was let go after police identified her.
“I don’t have to feel ashamed for being who I am and that’s really where the tears were coming from,” Watts said, referring to a cellphone video of her in the incident.
Los Angeles police Lt. Andrew Neiman said Monday that citizens are required to identify themselves if requested to do so by an officer who has reasonable suspicion to believe an offence may have been committed.
On Monday, TMZ posted audio recordings captured by the investigating officers’ body mics.
In one, Watts is heard refusing Sgt. Jim Parker’s demands to see her identification.
“You know how many times the cops have been called just for being black? Just because I’m black and he’s white. I’m just being really honest, sir,” she told Parker.
“You can take me down to the court office and I can make a scene about it. And you know what, I have a publicist and I work as an actor.”
In a conversation with another officer, Watts asks: “I think I’d like to identify you to my publicist.”
– with files by Global News
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