Black Man Asked to Leave Apartment Complex Pool By Off-Duty Police Officer

A black man claims he was racially profiled after he was confronted by an off-duty police officer and asked to leave his apartment complex pool.

Shayne Holland, a resident at River Crossing Apartments in Indianapolis told WRTV on Wednesday that he was sitting by the apartment complex pool on Friday when he was approached by an off-duty police officer. Holland, who is black, told the news station the female officer demanded to know where he lived and then asked him to leave.

"She didn't introduce herself, she didn't say hello," said Holland. "She says, 'Do you live here?' I'm like: 'Yes, I live here; I wouldn't be here if I didn't live here.'"

Holland told the IndyStar that when the officer first approached him, he had his headphones in his ears and did not hear her.

"I had my headphones when she approached me so I didn't hear her the first time. When I asked her to repeat herself, she asked if I lived in the neighborhood. I said yes," Holland said. "When she asked where I lived, I said I don't know you and you haven't identified yourself, so I'm not just going to give you my address."

Holland told WRTV that he showed the off-duty officer his key fob he used to get in the pool. The female officer then grabbed the key out of his hand, according to Holland.

Holland was able to record the confrontation on his cellphone and posted the video on Twitter, which already has over 29,000 views. In the video, Holland tells the apartment manager and the unidentified female police officer that he pays $1,600 in rent at the complex.

"Why do I need to give this lady, who I don't know, my address?" Holland asks in the video.

The apartment manager can be heard responding to Holland and said he was being asked to leave because he did not answer the officer's question. Holland told WRTV that he did not want to jump to conclusions, but he was the only one asked by the police officer to provide proof that he lived at the apartment complex.

"Honestly, I don't want to jump to racism," Holland told the news station. "I don't want to say she just pointed me out because I'm the only black dude in the pool, but that was the case."

The unidentified officer reportedly works for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, according to the IndyStar. Newsweek has reached out to Holland and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department but did not hear back in time for publication.

Alex Stokely, the vice president of Barrett and Stokely, which manages the River Crossing apartment complex, told the IndyStar that the manager in the video has been placed on leave and they are currently investigating the incident. Stokely also told the publication the officer was at the complex because there were people using the pool who did not live at the complex in the past few days.

"The police there were to ask everybody there the same question as far as confirming that they did in fact live there or were guests of someone who lived there," Stokley told the publication.

The new incident comes just a week after a woman called the police on a black man who was wearing socks at a community pool. The woman, who was the property manager at the pool, told police the man had to take his socks off if he wanted to put his feet in the water on July 4. She has been fired from her job because of the incident, USA Today reported.