Police Officer Arrests Woman At Her Residence For Not Identifying Herself, Mayor Apologizes

A police officer in Alabama entered a woman’s residence and apprehended her for not showing her identification. The problem is, in the state of Alabama, failure to show your identification is not against the law.

An apology was giving to Twyla Stallworth by the mayor, following her apprehension. He added that all charges will be dismissed.

On February 23, Stallworth called authorities in regards to her neighbor’s noise levels. However, she stated that police didn’t take any action.

Thus, she set off her car alarm in order to alert her neighbors. When her neighbors contacted authorities to complain about the alarm, Officer Grant Barton with the Andalusia Police Department arrived to the scene.

Officer Barton then told Stallworth that she could receive a citation for setting off her alarm. However, she then criticized him about citing her, a Black woman, but not her neighbor, who is white.

That leads to the start of a 5-minute recording by Stallworth’s 18-year-old son. In the recording, Officer Barton is heard requesting to see Stallworth’s identification to which she refuses.

“I’m not giving you my ID,” Stallworth says.

In the recording, the officer then tells Stallworth she is under arrest after retrieving his handcuffs.

“Alright turn around and put your hands behind your back,” Barton says.

The woman then went back into her residence to put her shoes on as the officer repeats his commands. He walks past her son into the residence, and Stallworth tells him not to push her son as things begin to get worse.

The son pleads with his mother to give the officer her ID as he begs for both of them to settle down.

Barton attempts to handcuff Stallworth and is observed pushing her into a couch. The pair begin to struggle as her son is yelling.

At some point, Stallworth was placed in handcuffs and taken outside as her son questioned the officer about what was happening.

“Right now, she’s under arrest for failure to identify,” Barton stated.

“That is not the law. That is against the law,” Stallworth says at that point.

The son then asked the officer to show that specific law that his mother is said to have broken. Barton then pulls up Alabama section code 15-5-30, called Authority of Peace Officer to Stop and Question.

The issue with this is that the law is only in reference to when an individual is in public not at their residence like Stallworth was.

The recording comes to an end as the officer drives away with Stallworth in the patrol car.

She was facing charges of obstructing, resisting arrest, and attempting to elude and was jailed for 15 hours.

On March 8, the mayor of Andalusia issued an apology to Stallworth as he released the video. He has denied any claims that the incident was racially motivated as Stallworth’s lawyer has suggested.

He also said that the officer was disciplined for failure to know the law.