A Colorado father feels local law enforcement owe him an apology after they handcuffed him in front of his wife and daughter because they claimed he violated social distancing rules by playing tee-ball.
Matt Mooney took to Facebook on Monday to share that he had been arrested, posting a cheeky status about how he could mark detainment off his ‘bucket list.’
Video shared former Brighton City Councilman Kirby Wallin showed Mooney being detained by Brighton police on Sunday.
Mooney explained to KDVR that he refused to identify himself to three officers because he was sure he hadn’t done anything wrong when he was throwing the tee-ball with his daughter at Donelson Park.
‘She’s like, “Daddy, I don’t want you to get arrested.” At this point I’m thinking, “There’s no way they’re going to arrest me, this is insane.” 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,’ he explained.
In the clip, Wallin describes that the father is being detained while ‘playing softball with his daughter.’
‘He’s being taken by the Brighton police for playing softball with his daughter in an empty park,’ Wallin said.
Wallin said of the arrest: ‘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.’
A park sign at Donelson does say ‘Closed’ but in smaller print it reads, ‘in groups of no more than 4 persons, parks remain open for walking, hiking, biking, running and similar activities.’
Mooney slammed the officers for being hypocritical in their following of the social distancing guidelines.
‘During the contact, none of the officers had masks on, none of them had gloves on, and they’re in my face handcuffing me, they’re touching me,’ he described.
Mooney said that he had to spend 10 minutes in the back of a patrol car before being released.