Winnipeg police Chief Keith McCaskill apologized Friday to Christian rapper Fresh I.E. and admitted officers made a mistake when they pulled over his car and forced him and a friend out at gunpoint.
"These two people (in) that vehicle did absolutely nothing wrong... this was our mistake," McCaskill said at a hastily called news conference late Friday afternoon.
'I can't read his mind.... I really do believe that some kind of racial thing was involved' -- Fresh I.E. on police actions earlier this week.
The chief said it's important for police to own up to their mistakes.
"We're going to make mistakes in the future, (but) we're going to stand up and say we've made a mistake," he said.
Robert Wilson -- a Christian minister and rapper known as Fresh I.E. -- had alleged police were guilty of racial profiling after they stopped his Chrysler 300 Wednesday afternoon.
Police pulled over Wilson and his 20-year-old passenger, Alex Smerchynski, in the downtown, boxed in his vehicle and -- with at least one gun drawn -- had Wilson empty his pockets. Then officers placed him in a cruiser car despite his repeated denials that the car was stolen.
Police eventually relented to Wilson's request to check his ID and registration and learned they had made a mistake after checking with police dispatchers. He and Smerchynski were then released.
Wilson went to the media with his story, saying he was humiliated by the experience. At that point, McCaskill began investigating the incident.
On Friday, McCaskill explained why the officers stopped the two men and believed they were in a stolen vehicle.
McCaskill said police officers at a Starbucks coffee shop near Polo Park saw Wilson's car exit the drive-thru only to immediately swing back around and quickly drive past the take-out window again. In fact, the men had forgotten a coffee and drove through a second time in order to retrieve it.
The officers noted the licence plate number, and phoned it in to a staff member to run it through a police computer. The staffer made an error by misinterpreting the information that came up on the screen and reported the vehicle as stolen.
Other officers cornered the two men downtown a short time later.
"It was a human error, and as a result, they were stopped," McCaskill said.
The police chief said he and a staff sergeant met with Wilson and his friend separately Friday to explain the mistake and apologize on behalf of the police service. "Both seemingly understood why it happened."
Police drew their weapons as a safety precaution due to the rising tide of violence of auto thieves, McCaskill added.
Reached Friday night at a church function, Wilson said he accepted McCaskill's apology but he still believes he was a victim of racial profiling.
"He saw me, he saw my car, and in his mind he made a decision," Wilson said of the police officer at Starbucks. "I can't read his mind... I really do believe that some kind of racial thing was involved."
Wilson said he doesn't believe the "mistake" occurred as McCaskill said, adding the police knew the car belonged to a Robert Wilson, they just didn't believe he could be Robert Wilson.
james.turner@freepress.mb.ca
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