A Colorado man was placed in handcuffs in front of his wife and 6-year-old daughter after playing T-ball in a park during the coronavirus pandemic.
Matt Mooney, 33, told FOX31 that three police officers arrested him after he refused to give them identification when they said he was violating the state’s social distancing guidelines.
“She’s like, ‘Daddy, I don’t want you to get arrested,'” Mooney said of his daughter. “At this point, I’m thinking, ‘There is no way they’re going to arrest me. There is no way. This is insane.’ So, I’m telling her, ‘Don’t worry, Daddy’s not going to get arrested. I’ve done nothing wrong. Don’t worry about it,’ and then they arrest me.”
A sign at the park said it was “closed” but also noted an exception for “groups of no more than four (4) persons” to use the park for exercise.
Mooney said he believes the police officers were the ones who were breaking social distancing rules.
“During this whole contact, none of the officers had masks on, none of them had gloves on, you know, and they’re in my face handcuffing me, they’re touching me,” he said. “If we’re going to go ahead and start arresting people for no reason in front of their 6-year-old daughter, you’re just going to cause more problems later on.”
Former Brighton City Councilman Kirby Wallin recorded the incident and criticized the police officers. “I find it hard to believe with all the things going on in our communities, the only way to resolve a situation like this was to handcuff a father in front of his daughter,” he said.
Mooney was held in the back of a police car for 10 minutes before they released him.
The Brighton Police Department said in a statement that they are “conducting an investigation” into the situation. “This is an active investigation and so we are unable to provide additional information until the investigation is complete,” the statement added.
