Rapper mistaken for car thief blames stereotyping for error

A Winnipeg rap artist is concerned he may have been the target of racial profiling after police pulled him over, pulled their weapons and accused him of driving a stolen car.

Robert Wilson, a youth worker also known as Grammy-nominated rapper Fresh I.E., said he was driving in downtown Winnipeg with a youth he mentors Wednesday afternoon when several unmarked police cars boxed him in on Donald Street.

'To be humiliated like that, it was very discouraging to me.' Robert "Fresh I.E." Wilson

"I was actually coming from Starbucks and the cops just pulled up to my car almost hit my car and pulled out their guns on me and told me my car was stolen," he told CBC News.

"They handcuffed the youth that I mentor, they pulled him out of the car and handcuffed him and threw him on the ground.

"It just threw me for a loop. I just couldn't believe it was happening."

'It's a case of stereotyping'

Wilson said officers didn't believe he was who he said he was, and told him his car had been reported stolen.

"I said, 'It's my car. It can't be reported stolen,'" he recalled.

"I said, 'Well, I'm Robert Wilson. I'm a youth worker in the city' and stuff. And they told me to shut up and shut the door, and then they came back and said, 'Oh, we made a mistake.'"

Wilson believes he was pulled over because he was a black man driving a Chrysler 300.

"It's a case of stereotyping. Not every black or native man or woman that's out there driving a nice car, you know, is stealing cars," he said.

"There's people out there making an honest living and doing things to try and make our city a better place. And for our own law to go ahead and see the way I look and assume that I'm a car thief and pull me over and stop all the traffic and there's at least 100 people outside that saw it to be humiliated like that, it was very discouraging to me."

Data entry error likely to blame: police

Winnipeg police spokesman Sgt. Kelly Dennison said profiling was not to blame for the incident.

Dennison believes when officers initially traced Wilson's licence plate, a wrong letter or number was punched into the system, resulting in his Chrysler 300 coming up as reported stolen.

Dennison said car thieves often flee or defend themselves with weapons when confronted by police, so the officers' drawing their guns when dealing with a suspected thief is not unusual.

"If we are going to pull people out of a vehicle that we believe is stolen, we are not going to take the chance that they could harm us or harm anybody else," he said. "We're not going to take that chance."

Dennison said he hoped the officers on the scene thoroughly explained to Wilson how the mistake occurred.