BERKELEY, Calif. (KRON) - Victim Kendall McIntosh is speaking out after he was racially profiled and harassed.
Cell phone video captured intense moments after a Berkeley woman accused him of speeding and then she and her boyfriend followed him, yelling racial slurs.
Berkeley police arrested 35-year-old Julie Warland last week for a hate crime after the confrontation near 1700 Delaware Street in North Berkeley.
Kendall McIntosh told KRON4 he was scared and felt unsafe in those moments.
At one point, the suspect jumped into his vehicle and tried to take control of his steering wheel for several minutes.
He says he's thankful neighbors got involved and recorded the incident because this isn't the first time he's been in a situation like this before.
“Instantly just started cursing me out like, first sentence I'm getting cursed at,” McIntosh said. “Very derogatory language, you know I was getting constant F bombs thrown at me. I was getting just racially profiled from the jump.”
McIntosh says he was finishing rounds delivering packages in Berkeley when 35-year-old Julie Walrand accused him of speeding and then she and her boyfriend followed him to Delaware Street and McGee Avenue in North Berkeley.
“That's when the harassing started happening. I was just trying to do my job and she wouldn't allow me to, she closed both double doors in the van I was trying to leave out of,” McIntosh said.
McIntosh says Warland's boyfriend then stood behind the delivery truck and prevented him from leaving.
“His girlfriend also jumped inside my van as I was trying to back up and grabbing onto the steering wheel. She did that two times in a row,” McIntosh said.
McIntosh was finally able to get out of the vehicle but the screaming and racial slurs, like the n-word continued from Warland.
He says he's thankful neighbors got involved and continued recording the incident.
“What constantly was running through my mind was you know it could be me in handcuffs instead of her so no matter what the situation is, just protect yourself. If you feel like you have to videotape it or anything, definitely do that because I felt like if there wasn't a video. It wasn't being recorded, she probably could've gotten away with saying this,” McIntosh said.
Berkeley police are classifying this as a hate crime and they arrested Warland on suspicion of false imprisonment, battery, using offensive words and willfully threatening a person based on their appearance.
This incident marks the second hate crime arrest in Berkeley this month.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/3eL0k2e
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