A blind man in Florida was arrested after officers mistook his cane for a gun. Now, two officers with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office have been put on temporary administrative leave.
Body camera footage shows an officer approach James Hodges as he walks down the street in Lake City, asking him what is in his back pocket. Hodges tells the officer, who has been identified as Deputy Jayme Gohde, it is a navigational aid.
Hodges asks for the reason why Gohde stopped him, and she says she thought it was a firearm and she is making sure he is carrying it properly. Hodges takes the cane, which is folded up, out of his back pocket to show her it is not a gun. Gohde tells Hodges he is being a “dick” when he questions why she stopped him.
[FFS, my wife carries the exact same kind of collapsable guiding stick. I occasionally carry it in my pocket for her. No reasonable person would mistake it for a firearm, and this incident should have ended when Hodges made clear what it was. — Ed]
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