Police chief: Officer did not harass local congressional candidate | WATCH dash cam video

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Desiree Tims, who is running for the Democratic nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Mike Turner in 2020, said she was harassed by police after the Democratic Presidential Debate in Westerville. The police chief of the department that performed the traffic stop on Friday said that wasn’t the case.

Tims and her aide were pulled over by Genoa Twp. police on Oct. 15 after the debate. Chief Steve Gammill said the video and audio show that Officer Craig Jones was “polite and professional” during the stop.

Genoa Twp. police reached out to the Dayton Daily News after reading earlier reporting on the incident. Tims previously would not name the agency or officer who pulled her over to protect their identities.

The Dayton Daily News obtained dashboard camera and audio from the stop via a public records request. The video shows Jones pull over Tims and her aide.

ORIGINAL REPORTING: Congressional candidate says she was harassed by police after Dem debate

Gammill said the area they were pulling out of, near a Tuffy’s Automotive Shop, had been closed for several hours, so activity there seemed unusual.

In the video, Jones says he pulled the car over because he ran a check on the license plate that showed the driver’s license of the registered owner was expired. When he approaches the car, Jones asks for identification. Tim’s aide tells Jones that Montgomery County mails IDs and she hasn’t received hers yet.

“It’s not expired,” Tims said in the video.

Jones tells Tims that he is not talking to her and continues to talk with her aide.

“Let me talk to the driver please,” Jones said.

At one point, Jones’ partner approaches the other side of the car and shines his flashlight into the backseat.

Tims said that officer’s gun on his holster made her afraid.

Jones ran the license in the system, confirms it is expired and tells the driver she legally should not be driving. Jones issued a citation for an expired license to the driver. He asked for Tims’ drivers license to confirm that she is a valid driver. Tims asks for Jones’ badge number and he says “sure,” giving it to her at the end of the traffic stop.

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“Ms. Tims became argumentative about the expired license and accused the officer of being nasty multiple times. Officer Jones explained he was not being nasty, just trying to verify she was a legal driver,” Gammill said.

The video also shows Jones ask Tims and her aide to switch seats, so that Tims can drive.

While they were pulled over, Tims tweeted she was racially profiled.

“Hi, I’m running for Congress and I get harassed for being a brown woman who knows her rights,” Tims tweeted Tuesday night.

Tims and her aide were stopped for about 22 minutes, according to the dash cam video.

“I think he saw two black people in a place that is predominantly white and wanted to see what we were doing,” Tims said.

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