Police from North Carolina accidentally arrested the wrong guy during a funeral. According to the New York Post, they allegedly used “excessive force” when storming the ceremony.
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Cops wrongfully detained the brother of the deceased, Kabem Smith. Lee County Sheriff’s Office believed this man was connected to the murder of Rodney Cotten in 1995. They ended up being wrong, but that didn’t stop them from crashing the funeral.
Police Storm Funeral And Arrest The Wrong Man
This happened on May 15, according to the sheriff’s office’s statement on Facebook. They mentioned that the information they received regarding the homicide linked Willard Eugene Smith to it.
“For almost 30 years previous tips have indicated that Willard Smith has used several aliases, including family member’s names,” said the sheriff’s office. “One of which, is the name Willard Partridge, which was listed in the obituary as a surviving brother. Tips also say that he has come back to the area on previous occasions to visit family.”
The statement claimed that they didn’t “attempt to disrupt the funeral services.” It was at the end of the service when deputies tried locating their suspect in the crowd. “There was a lot of confusion, hostility, and deception,” they said.
Many funeral goers attempted to block in the Lee County Deputy cars. “They started banging on the hoods and rocking the patrol cars with Deputies inside,” they wrote. “Attendees also attempted to use vehicles to block the exit route for the Deputies.”
Officers managed to detain a male who matched the description of the suspect who had been on the run for nearly 30 years. They dismissed online claims alluding to Chatham County Sheriff’s Office assisting in the investigation.
“Chatham County was notified of a disturbance and requested for crowd control,” they explained. “Lee County Deputies were able to deescalate the situation prior to the Chatham deputies arriving on scene.”
Police transported the suspect to Lee County, where they confirmed his identity. Once they realized their mistake, they released him and brought him back to his residence.
The real suspect behind the 1995 murder is still at large. “Our Office is still encouraging anyone to report information regarding the Murder of Rodney Cotton and the suspect’s location,” they said.
Victim’s Family Blasts Police For Crashing Funeral
In opposition to this statement, the family of Kabem Smith spoke out on Facebook five days later. Posted by Tamika Bynum, the family was “devastated and deeply traumatized” by the altercation.
“What was meant to be a sacred and solemn moment of farewell for our beloved son, brother, cousin, friend and father was violently interrupted by an aggressive and unjustified action carried out by the Lee County Sheriff’s Narcotics Unit,” it wrote.
The family described the funeral crash worse than how the police framed it. “Acting on what we have since been informed was a false tip, armed officers stormed our private burial ceremony, threatening grieving family members, including elders and children, with drawn weapons and deploying tear gas”
They demanded an apology from Sheriff Estes. The family also requested “answers and assurance that such an inhumane and reckless display of force will never happen again.”
According to Kabem’s obituary, he died at 33 years old. They described Kabem as loving to cook on the grill and go on vacations. He worked as a forklift driver prior to his death.