It was a terrifying case of mistaken identity when a Texas deputy incorrectly believed a black homeowner was actually a fugitive.
Clarence Evans of Houston posted a video on Facebook of his recent encounter with a Harris County deputy.
Evans told Inside Edition that he had been playing catch with his son in his front yard when Deputy Garrett Lindley approached him and asked if his dog was stolen.
Evans said it wasn’t, and he had registration and a chip for his dog. Lindley then asked him for some identification.
“I told him I didn’t feel like I need to ID myself,” Evans said. “He asked me, ‘Well, what’s your name?’ and I told him it was Clarence, and he stopped right here when I told him it’s Clarence. He said, ‘No, I know who you are. You’re [Quentin] and you’ve got a warrant out in Louisiana.”
Evans claimed that the official then grabbed his arm and backed him up toward his car.
“I was confused. I was terrified. I didn’t know what was going on. I was like, ‘Am I going to jail?’” Evans said. “That’s when I sent my son to get my wife.”
When his wife, Kenya, came out of the house, she began recording the confrontation.
“He was not listening,” Kenya said of the deputy. “That day, to him, that was Quentin. He was that guy.”
A second deputy eventually showed up minutes into the ordeal, and quickly realized that Evans was not the fugitive they were looking for.
The Harris County Chief Deputy Donald Steward defended the officer's actions in a statement provided to InsideEdition.com, saying the deputy had a tip that a wanted fugitive was near the location and left when it was determined Evans was not the suspect being sought.
“I’ve always been the guy that says if you ain’t breaking the law, you got nothing to worry about,’” Evans said. “I wasn’t breaking the law that day and look what happened.”
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