Jakony Tribune. Continue Reading at - WFLA
SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A Sarasota County mother is speaking out after deputies said three men confronted her son and followed him while he was walking through his neighborhood.
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office just closed the investigation and will not be filing charges.
According to an incident report, this started with a conversation between 18-year-old Cornell Harris III and one of the men’s wives.
The report details a woman telling deputies Harris asked her if she had a man.
When she responded yes, she claims Harris said something that made her uncomfortable. But when interviewed by deputies, Harris denied her account of what happened.
Harris’ mother, Whitney Torres, is wondering if the entire altercation was racially motivated.
“I don’t feel safe,” she said. “People say don’t worry but they did this in broad daylight to my child.”
Harris videotaped the man as they followed him as he walked through his neighborhood.
“You just want to see who I am and follow me that’s it,” he tells the men in the video.
Sheriff Kurt Hoffman said the men continued following Harris and tried questioning him, all while becoming more confrontational.
“Look at buddy, he’s still creeping,” Harris said in the video.
At one point, the incident report said one of the men drove off and came back with an object, which Harris thought at the time was a gun. But deputies said it was a baseball bat, and the man did not swing or point it at Harris at any time.
Hoffman released a lengthy statement regarding the investigation and no charges being filed:
“We have spoken to all witnesses and parties who were willing to provide a statement. Additionally, we have reviewed all available videos, canvassed the surrounding neighborhoods, and have determined that no probable cause exists to believe a crime was committed,” Hoffman said in the statement.
“You have the police not pressing charges,” Torres said. “How can you feel safe?”
Torres said she was shocked to learn no charges will be filed.
“I feel dismissed, unheard and very much unseen,” she said.
She said ever since that day, she and her son haven’t felt safe in their own neighborhood.
“I always make sure I have my camera on,” she said. “When I’m sitting on my front patio, I’m uncomfortable. That used to be my safe haven, and it’s been robbed. It’s been robbed by people’s actions.”
Now she has one question for the men Hoffman said followed her son.
“If it was anyone else that wasn’t his skin color would you have done this to him?” Torres said.
Torres said she plans to seek legal action and file a civil suit.
