You also stated that he threatened you. You said he walked toward you and told you to stop. Can you describe the threatening behavior? He He said you need to stop and he was walking toward me. Were you spraying him with a garden hose at the time?
Silence. Diane's eyes dropped to the hose lying on Blake's driveway. The nozzle was still pointing at the truck. Ma'am, were you spraying him with the hose when he said you need to stop? Yes.
So, he asked you to stop spraying him with water, and you reported that as a threat. It wasn't a question. Anderson let it hang there. Blake stepped forward, not toward Diane, toward Anderson. He spoke quietly so only the sergeant could hear, but in the afternoon, stillness sound carried.
Sergeant, there's a security camera on the house two doors east, 718. Mrs. Chen's house. I noticed it when I arrived this morning. It's pointed toward this section of the street. I want that footage pulled.
It will show the full sequence, the verbal confrontation, the hose, and exactly what I was doing when she claims I was hiding weapons. Anderson made a note. I'll request it today. Sir, you'll also need the 911 recording. Both calls showed deliberate fabrication.
She described a vacant house, but the deed was filed last Wednesday. She described suspicious behavior, but I was carrying boxes from my vehicle to my front door. She described a threat, but I asked her to stop assaulting me with a garden hose. Blake turned to look at Diane, not with anger, not with satisfaction, with the flat, measuring gaze of a man who had sat across from suspects in interrogation rooms for 20 years. You used 911 as a weapon, Mrs. Hartley.
You called armed officers to the home of a black man and told them he might have a gun. Do you understand what could have happened? His voice dropped lower. I know exactly what could have happened because I've been the officer responding to calls like yours for 25 years and I've seen how they end. Diane started to cry, not the practice trembling she'd performed on the 911 call.
Real tears. Ugly hiccuping mascara streaking tears. Her hands shook. Her voice cracked into pieces. I didn't mean I didn't know you were You didn't know I was the police chief.
Blake finished her sentence for her. That's the problem, Mrs. Hartley. You didn't know who I was. If I were just a man, just a black man, moving into his own home, you would have done the exact same thing and nobody would have saluted. Diane had no answer for that because there was no answer.
He was right. And every person still watching from behind their curtains knew he was right. Anderson stepped toward Diane. Mrs. Hartley, you are being detained pending investigation for filing a false police report under section 16-10-26 and criminal mischief under section 16-7-22. You have the right to remain silent.