College student faces felony charges for driving to a well-lit area during traffic stop
It's conventional wisdom that if a police officer pulls you over late at night, you can proceed slowly to a well-lit, public area to make sure the stop is safe and legitimate. But when DaJuawn Wallace, a graduate student at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan, attempted to put this rule into practice, he found himself arrested and slapped with a felony charge for "fleeing and eluding" police.
The stop took place at 2 a.m., while Wallace was out purchasing medicine for his girlfriend. When he saw police lights behind him, he slowly drove to a nearby Sam's Club, waving for the officer to follow him. "I live in Detroit, and I know some people who were robbed by fake police officers," Wallace explained. "I was not speeding up, turning off my lights or trying to get away." He was only pulled over because the cop thought his car resembled one he'd seen driving on a sidewalk earlier that day.
Wallace has been offered a plea deal to reduce his charge to a misdemeanor, but taking it would cause him to lose his job and any financial aid opportunities for his master's program. He is pushing for a complete dismissal of charges because, he says, "I feel like I didn't do anything wrong."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Quincy Jones, music icon, is dead at 91
Speed Read The legendary producer is perhaps best known as the architect behind Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Moldova's pro-West president wins 2nd term
Speed Read Maia Sandu beat Alexandr Stoianoglo, despite suspicions of Russia meddling in the election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
2024 race ends with swing state barnstorming
Speed Read Kamala Harris and Donald Trump held rallies in battlegrounds over the weekend
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billion
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on record
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homes
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creature
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published