Officer Detains Innocent Man Just For Wearing a Ski Mask on a Public Sidewalk

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:00]On February 3rd, 2025, officer John Long of the Brighton Police Department stopped a man named John on Bridge Street in Brighton, Colorado because he was wearing a ski mask on a cool day.

[00:00:12]John was walking to an AutoZone fix. The interaction that followed was captured on officer body camera.

[00:00:21]>> Sir, excuse me. Come over here.

[00:00:28]Come over here.

[00:00:30]No. Come over here. I'm >> heading over here.

[00:00:33]>> What?

[00:00:33]>> I'm heading over here.

[00:00:34]>> Yeah. I want to talk to you real quick.

[00:00:36]Come on. What?

[00:00:37]>> You're wearing a black ski mask. It's 50° outside. Come over here.

[00:00:40]>> I'm on my way.

[00:00:41]>> Walk this way.

[00:00:42]>> I'm going to the auto zone.

[00:00:43]>> Okay. You're not walking there now.

[00:00:45]You're going to talk to me.

[00:00:46]>> You got something to arrest me for?

[00:00:47]>> No. I've got reasonable suspicion to contact you. So, come over here.

[00:00:50]>> That's not reasonable suspicion.

[00:00:51]>> Yes, it is.

[00:00:52]>> No, I got a I got a lawsuit going in.

[00:00:55]>> Sure. We can work on a lawsuit.

[00:00:56]>> Oh, they jumped me, bro. I was walking from my mama's house and they jump. It's on YouTube, bro.

[00:01:02]>> Let me tell you why I'm stopping you, okay? Cuz it's 50° outside. You're clearly not cold cuz you're wearing a shirt and you're wearing a black ski mask walking down Bridge Street. Do you understand why that's kind of strange?

[00:01:12]>> It's not illegal. But I just want to find out what's going on.

[00:01:13]>> Privacy, right?

[00:01:14]>> Sure. But it's also suspicious.

[00:01:16]>> Only if I was being But it's only illegal if I'm being ignorant or threatening to somebody. You understand?

[00:01:22]>> I didn't say it was illegal. I did not say it was illegal. I'm saying suspicious. That's why I'm contacting. I don't want this contact.

[00:01:28]>> You're not free to go yet cuz I got a couple things I got to ask you. Okay.

[00:01:31]>> So, what's your name?

[00:01:33]>> No, you can put on there like uh you know, jolly fat citizen.

[00:01:37]>> No, I'm not. Reasonable suspicion.

[00:01:39]>> I'm on my way.

[00:01:40]>> No, you're not going anywhere right now.

[00:01:42]>> Right here.

[00:01:42]>> Not right now.

[00:01:43]>> Yes, I am, bro. Call your superior.

[00:01:45]>> Not right now. Call your superior.

[00:01:46]>> I've got someone coming over to talk to me. So, let me explain.

[00:01:49]>> I need your name and your address and this is what you're doing.

[00:01:51]>> I'm up in the I'm going to uh record this.

[00:01:53]>> Sure. It's all being recorded from me, too. All right.

[00:01:56]>> I'm going get the footage. I got it from Titusville, Florida. You can look it up on YouTube. I'll show you.

[00:02:00]>> You want to look it up?

[00:02:00]>> I'll show you this.

[00:02:01]>> Okay. So, what's your name? Do you have your ID on you by chance to make it easier?

[00:02:04]>> No, sir.

[00:02:05]>> Okay.

[00:02:07]>> You No, you you understand? I'm going to show you the video. It's on news breakak as well.

[00:02:12]>> I mean, I don't really want to see the video. I mean, I I trust you, >> but I'm to get a part for my vehicle.

[00:02:19]It's none of your business, and I'm on my way.

[00:02:21]>> Okay. So, the reason I'm stopping is for reasonable suspicion. Okay. does. You have to suspect me of a crime. I just say let me explain or I assume.

[00:02:30]>> Let me explain why that's suspicious.

[00:02:32]Because it's 50° outside. How you doing, sir?

[00:02:34]>> You're walking around with a ski mask on my walking down bridge. You're clearly not cold because it's wearing a t-shirt public sidewalk.

[00:02:42]>> So, what is it being ignorant or or or or frightening to people? You know what I'm saying? So other than you know the whole the whole you're not allowed to wear a mask if you're being threatened >> and I'm fine. I'm just walking the public sidewalk to a store to buy explain to you what I contact.

[00:03:02]>> I don't need to give you my name your address and what you're doing.

[00:03:06]>> Your your your system asks you what was my name. But you could put jolly fat citizen but it's not doing anything at all.

[00:03:13]>> Put you a handcuff your name. I >> I'm going to show you the video and type the video. I'm telling you, >> there's no reason for you to put me in handcuffs >> cuz you're not identifying.

[00:03:20]>> Can you tell me what crime I committed?

[00:03:22]>> I'm stopping you for reasonable suspicions.

[00:03:24]>> No, you have to have a suspicion or crime for me to identify. I looked up the Colorado um deal. You have to suspect me of a crime. Suspect me of a crime.

[00:03:34]>> You suspect I from my vehicle that's down.

[00:03:38]>> I just told you that and that's all you need. I have no identify yourself. I I I have to identif I can tell you my first name, maybe first and last name.

[00:03:46]>> First and last name, >> but that's not going to help you with a a crime that I haven't committed.

[00:03:50]>> Okay?

[00:03:51]>> You understand that? Well, how would that help you with a crime that I haven't committed?

[00:03:55]>> Okay, sir. At this point, I need your name, your address, and >> you're going to take me to jail, right?

[00:03:59]>> I'm I don't want to put your handcuffs.

[00:04:00]I don't need to.

[00:04:00]>> I think you all I want right now.

[00:04:02]>> I know, but I kind of like you. You want the threatening portion of it, but you don't want to put me in jail cuz there's nothing to put me in jail.

[00:04:08]>> I don't want any handcuffs.

[00:04:09]>> I'm going, man. I just need to contact you suspicion. I just need your name and your address.

[00:04:13]>> This is the only way poor people can get money, man. You come snatch me up, take me to jail.

[00:04:18]>> I don't want to put you in handcuffs.

[00:04:20]>> Why do you identify yourself as law enforcement?

[00:04:22]>> For for what? Suspicion of what crime?

[00:04:23]Where's the camera I'm talking to?

[00:04:25]>> You got one? Okay. All right. A suspicion of what crime? I'm walking on the public sidewalk, right? And that's not a crime. And there's no no reason other than if I was threatening to somebody for you to worry about anything but my privacy. You I did it's not IDF.

[00:04:43]It's rarely defense force territory. You know what I'm saying? I I mean I get it, but I'm just headed this way. Have not done anything wrong, right? I just walked on the sidewalk from my vehicle that is down and I'm trying to go fix it. I'm trying to go to the auto parts store.

[00:04:57]>> I've explained to you what I need from you. Are you going to give me your first and last name and your address or not?

[00:05:01]Are you going to give me that or not?

[00:05:02]You going to take me to jail?

[00:05:04]>> I don't want to take you to jail. All I want is your name, your address.

[00:05:08]>> I'm done. I'm I'm done cuz I'm I'm trying to get who you are.

[00:05:11]>> I'm just trying to get I'm getting work done.

[00:05:13]>> Are you sure? You don't want to tell me your name? Like that's all I want to do and I can let you go if you just tell me your name personal last name.

[00:05:18]>> But that doesn't stop me from a crime that I haven't committed. That doesn't aid you in in identifying a crime.

[00:05:23]>> Okay. I'm going to identify you either way. Is this okay?

[00:05:29]Okay.

[00:05:35]John asked a precise legal question at least four times in that stretch. What crime am I suspected of? And Officer Long never answered it. He could not because there was no crime. Wearing a face covering in cold weather, even warm weather, is not a criminal act in Colorado. Under Terry versus Ohio, decided by the Supreme Court in 1968, police may briefly detain a person only when they can point to specific articulable facts giving rise to a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is a foot, not a hunch, not an unusual appearance, but facts pointing toward an actual crime. Colorado codified that standard in section 163103 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, which also requires that an officer have reasonable suspicion of a crime before they can demand a person's name and address. Officer Long had a man in a ski mask on a public sidewalk headed toward a hardware store. That is not a crime.

[00:06:33]That is not even close to one.

[00:06:44]We headed back this way.

[00:06:45]>> Yeah, we'll head that way.

[00:06:53]>> You got to supervisor.

[00:06:55]>> I do. You guys not here? He's busy right now.

[00:06:56]>> No. Okay. Can you get him on the phone?

[00:06:59]>> I'll let him know what's going on. If you want to talk to him, sure, I can do that.

[00:07:01]>> Sure. Thank you, sir.

[00:07:02]>> I'm trying to face my wheel right here.

[00:07:05]>> 61 code five with the mail. Do you have anything on you I need to like know that's going to hurt me, stick me, poke me?

[00:07:09]>> Uh, I got videos, nothing like that.

[00:07:12]>> I got a tablet, a phone >> I'm using to to look at the YouTube videos, how to fix my vehicle that I'm going to leave stranded cuz you taking me, kidnapping me, right?

[00:07:22]>> And uh, >> so nothing.

[00:07:23]>> I got I got vape >> vaporizers and that's it. No, I think I got money and probably >> I might got maybe my debit card on because it's illegal to be around here without currency, right? Y'all going to snatch me up, but it's it's it's not you know >> I might have a screwdriver that's uh >> you realize we could avoid it all your name.

[00:07:51]>> But I don't have an address by name. You know what I mean? I haven't committed any >> I have a name but but why why do I have to give it to you? What crime did I commit?

[00:08:02]>> Okay. In Colorado, we're allowed to stop someone before we believe. No. If you have reasonable suspicion that a crime, listen, just listen to me. Don't interrupt me. Just let me know. Tell me what don't interrupt me and I'll explain it to you. Okay? Just don't interrupt me. I'll explain it to you.

[00:08:14]>> Got to work though. What you saying better? So, in Colorado, we can stop someone if we have reasonable suspicion based on articulable circumstances that there has been, will be, or could be in the future a crime committed. All right.

[00:08:26]So, based on Don't interrupt me, let me keep going.

[00:08:29]Okay. Okay. So based on the articular reason of you're walking down Bridge Street with a ski mask on when it's not that cold. No, it's not illegal. But based on the fact that we have a high crime area right here on Bridge Street, you won't wear a ski mask.

[00:08:44]>> But I'm headed to the store to fix my vehicle. You don't want me to fix my vehicle.

[00:08:48]>> Just let me keep talking. I'll explain it to you. I don't want to tell your where your car is.

[00:08:51]>> You want to take me to jail, too.

[00:08:53]>> I don't want to take you to jail.

[00:08:54]>> Well, then why don't you leave me alone and let And you can investigate by looking at me go to my store. I was You can investigate by watching me go to my car. Your camera distance.

[00:09:02]>> You can name your address.

[00:09:04]>> Watching me go. I don't have an address.

[00:09:06]>> Can you spread your fine? If you said you're trans, this is you.

[00:09:12]>> I wouldn't have anything illegal.

[00:09:14]>> So, you have to realize somebody else's name.

[00:09:16]>> You have to realize in our dayto-day we could be in Florida going about this, man. Yeah.

[00:09:23]>> Ask them out.

[00:09:27]Okay.

[00:09:29]>> I want to get a rubber hose and >> because it's my right to privacy and I look like a bum and that's none of your business, you know. So, you're right.

[00:09:45]None of you sir or anything like that.

[00:09:48]>> I'm going to take your mask off there.

[00:09:49]>> Oh, why you taking my mask off?

[00:09:50]>> So, I can see who you are. I'm not going to have you in the back of my car.

[00:09:53]>> This is all diffused, bro. I should head butt y'all butt [ __ ] right here in the face, bro. I'm telling you on camera, man. That literally kidnapping me.

[00:10:02]>> That mask came off fast and it should not have. The Fourth Amendment protects individuals against unreasonable searches and seizures. And removing a person's clothing, even a face covering, is a search. In the 1979 case of Illinois versus Lafayette, the Supreme Court recognized that even minor physical intrusions during a detention must be justified. If the stop itself lacked reasonable suspicion, then everything that followed, the pat down, the demand for identification, and the removal of that mask was constitutionally tainted. Jon specifically asked why his mask was being removed. Officer Long said it was so he could see who Jon was. Meaning the removal was an identification maneuver, not a safety measure. Using a search as a substitute for lawful identification procedure is exactly the kind of conduct the Fourth Amendment was written to prevent.

[00:10:55]>> Bro, please bring the supervisor.

[00:11:00]>> Y'all literally take me in you want to, bro. I'm literally trying to fix my car, man.

[00:11:07]Crazy, man.

[00:11:09]>> I don't know nothing about people's phone numbers. You want to give me my phone to get you here?

[00:11:14]>> Whatever, man. What's your name?

[00:11:15]Officer.

[00:11:16]>> Yeah, man. Officer, thanks for kidnapping me. Thanks for kidnapping me, sir. I appreciate it.

[00:11:22]>> Colorado.

[00:11:23]>> No, sir. You I appreciate it, man, for kidnapping me.

[00:11:32]>> The card just is a gift card. So, there's no name no name on it. So, >> okay. That's the best.

[00:11:38]>> Okay, let's look him up in here. We'll see if we can find anything on a picture, too.

[00:11:42]>> Yeah, I'm going to go through L.

[00:12:10]It's John, right?

[00:12:12]>> Do you want to talk to my supervisor?

[00:12:13]He's right here, actually.

[00:12:14]>> Yes, sir.

[00:12:15]>> Okay, I'll go get him for you. Okay, we have we have a debit card to try to identify this person.

[00:12:32]He doesn't want to talk to you, too. He wants to.

[00:12:38]>> Hey, John. Make sure you're okay.

[00:12:43]>> Want to face this? I have the handcuffs off you. Okay.

[00:12:46]>> My helmet.

[00:12:47]>> Pretty sure I just Hey, I'm pretty sure I just saw you. Hold on.

[00:12:51]>> Okay.

[00:12:53]This is my supervisor, by the way.

[00:12:55]Sergeant Morowski.

[00:12:55]>> Hey, what's up, man?

[00:12:57]>> Is it John? John, I just ran your information. You're in a Green Ranger parked over off of uh Miller.

[00:13:06]You were abandoned a car over at Walmart yesterday. I was in the car.

[00:13:11]>> Not yesterday.

[00:13:12]>> Yeah. I stay in in the back road, >> right? But then today you were parked over there and now it's just parked over there off Miller, isn't it?

[00:13:22]>> Did y'all tell them what I told you?

[00:13:23]>> No, I'm going here to the auto parts store to fix it.

[00:13:26]>> Okay.

[00:13:27]>> All right. I work right here. All right.

[00:13:28]Right there. Sounds good. Go ahead. Just >> I told them that.

[00:13:33]>> Sergeant Merloski releasing John was the right call, but trying to retroactively justify the stop by invoking school proximity does not hold up. Section 18-9-112 of the Colorado Revised Statutes makes it a petty offense to loiter within 100 ft of school grounds with the intent to interfere with or disrupt school activities or to endanger children. The operative word there is intent. John was walking down a public sidewalk to an auto parts store. He was not loitering.

[00:14:02]He was not near school property. He was not interacting with children. An individual's physical proximity to a school while moving along a public sidewalk without any behavior suggesting criminal intent does not convert an otherwise lawful walk into reasonable suspicion. Proximity is not probable cause. Proximity is not even reasonable suspicion. It is geography.

[00:14:24]>> Okay.

[00:14:25]legal and there's no crime. You know what I'm saying? Just remember that, sir. I'm just saying it's a tense thing you do, bro. You know, >> all you do is just tell me you make like three, four times the average manager, bro, around here. And nobody can't achieve anything more than being a manager a lot of times, you know, in life.

[00:14:42]>> Hold on. Hold on.

[00:14:44]>> You got to turn around.

[00:14:46]>> Do you understand my mask, please?

[00:14:49]>> Hold on.

[00:14:49]>> Thank you, sir.

[00:14:50]>> You know what the building is that's next door over here? Well, I'm walking down a public sidewalk to know every video. I'm not here to know every building that I'm walking upon going to from one point to another. Sir, >> literally last week, we had the exact same scenario.

[00:15:06]>> Your camera was on too, right?

[00:15:07]>> Yeah.

[00:15:07]>> All right. All right. I got this Castle Rock. Uh I was door dashing in Castle Rock. Uh the their supervisor apologized to me, told me to make sure I I can still door dash there cuz there's nothing wrong with having a mask in Titusville, Florida. I got it on YouTube, man. I was just walking from my mother's house with a radio and a backpack full of waters and I was taken into custody threatened with arrest with the same thing, man. But I'm on a public sidewalk. You know, they they tried to say I was standing down in the bushes, but the city hadn't hadn't cut the grass. So, when I was getting my water bottles and uh switching my radio, you know, it looked as it looked, you know.

[00:15:44]But >> fair enough. And I totally get you, man.

[00:15:47]But hold on. So I just don't want him I I when he's driving along and he's you're coming up on a two schools right here like two two a middle school and a high school.

[00:15:56]>> It's not illegal. If I was a young person >> with with with religious points of views y'all acting like the IDF doesn't help anybody, brother. You know what I'm saying?

[00:16:06]>> You're 100% right.

[00:16:08]Sure, bro. and and and literally I spoke fluidly, you know, and I articulated what I was doing to a point that that I didn't need to. You know what I'm saying? But >> I got I got to tell you though, >> by the two schools that schools, bro, >> even when you're walking here with a mask, that's one thing. But you're parked outside of a liquor store over there.

[00:16:29]>> I work I work at that in that building.

[00:16:32]Okay. I work in the I told you officer yesterday. Some guy with black hair underneath, a young man, black hair. Uh uh uh.

[00:16:40]>> Okay.

[00:16:40]>> He saw me and and and asked me questions that didn't need to be asked. Where do I live? None of his business. I told him I work there. You know, last night during my shift, uh I got gas and hit E85 and put it in my vehicle. My my my my troubles seem to, you know, follow me on a a public path to to to fix my [ __ ] And then now y'all jumping me and kidnapping me. You know what I'm saying?

[00:17:05]kidnapping kidnapping one one >> detaining me for no reason is damn near a kidnapping bro you know even if you would like to create try to create one a school a school in proximity of a school that's kind of ridiculous you know kind of to a point you can follow and investigate you would have saw me like I told you you would have saw me go there they would have saw me jog to my mother's house they would have saw me drink my water out of my backpack no gun the 911 call didn't even say I had a gun she just thought, "Oh, it's just suspicious, so I I want to, you know, uh I'd rather call in." And they're like, "Oh, it's better safe than sorry." And then told me I had a gun. I told them I didn't have a gun. The 911 caller. It's all on YouTube.

[00:17:46]>> Oh, >> no. No. This is all It's Titusville.

[00:17:49]>> Yeah. Yeah. It was And >> even if you suspected what you thought is the is right, that's not enough. I'm telling you, a call, an anonymous call is also not enough. You know what I mean? Uh this I I can't even walk a public road as I wish. I have to know a little something, you know. So, >> but you can about the schools. I apologize.

[00:18:12]>> No, you're fine. You're fine. You're good. You So, are you trying to get down to >> I'm trying to fix and move on before y'all can't get me no more, man.

[00:18:19]>> You need a ride?

[00:18:21]>> No, sir. I'm I'm going to hit this auto zone. See if they got a hose I can use or or whichever one.

[00:18:26]>> Okay. There's this one. There's a Napa halfway down the right as well.

[00:18:31]>> Yeah. I had to do my drum breaks and uh and same scenario. That's why I thought it would be okay, man.

[00:18:36]>> Okay.

[00:18:36]>> You know that I'm just going to throw this out there. You You know that we we've now talked to you.

[00:18:43]>> You know somebody's going to keep calling us, right?

[00:18:46]>> Right. But two, >> you know, you know that you know they're going to keep calling us, right?

[00:18:49]>> Especially if you like you walk into AutoZone wearing a ski mask. Like you understand why that's like weird for them. They're like working behind 65°.

[00:18:55]>> I I live like this, man. So, you know, I walked into O'Reilly's and everything like that, too. You know, I could pull it down and be sociable. You know what I'm saying? And there's no problem with that. I understand. You know, but but but right here when it's You see how bright it is? The cameras will be able to see that the Eskimos used to use this technology to be able to see far distance safely like this. You know what I'm saying? When the bright [ __ ] is out, you know? So, it's just it's too much, man. I don't have to tell y'all too much, man. I apologize for making y'all scared, but I'm really not a [ __ ] junkie trying to do nothing. You know what I'm saying? I appreciate that. I got a lot, man. There's a combination between seeing you outside the liquor store. I have no idea if you work there, but I'm tell when when you say there's no crime. What I what he can say is that based on the actions and it being so grossly disproportionate to what >> because of the temperature, that's ridiculous. because of the temperature, you know, religious points of view and also medical reasons. We can cover up or not cover up depending on what >> you claiming either of those things.

[00:19:59]>> That's that's neither. I don't have to.

[00:20:00]That's that's a that's a fact, right?

[00:20:02]>> Okay.

[00:20:03]>> All right, man. Thanks, John. Good luck.

[00:20:07]>> John raised a sharp legal point near the end of this footage that an anonymous 911 call alone is not enough to justify a Terry stop. He is correct. In Alabama versus White decided in 1990, the Supreme Court held that an anonymous tip can support reasonable suspicion only when it exhibits sufficient indisha of reliability, meaning it must predict future behavior that officers can then corroborate before making the stop. Two years later, in Florida versus JL, the court clarified that an anonymous tip describing a person's appearance, but offering no predictive information does not, standing alone, create reasonable suspicion. Here, even assuming a 911 call existed, there is no evidence it predicted any specific behavior, no evidence officers corroborated anything before stopping Jon, and no evidence of any criminal act at all. The sergeant's parting advice that people will keep calling and Jon should be aware of that was well-intentioned, but it also quietly acknowledged what this interaction always was. A stop built on discomfort, not law. Officer Long gets an F. He stopped a man walking to a hardware store for no articulable criminal reason and spent nearly 9 minutes attempting to extract identification he had no legal right to demand. The entire basis for the stop was a ski mask and the label of a high crime area. Two factors that courts have consistently found insufficient to establish reasonable suspicion on their own. In Illinois versus Wllo decided in 2000, the Supreme Court noted that while high crime area designation is a relevant contextual factor, it must be combined with specific conduct suggesting criminal activity to justify a stop. And there was no such conduct here. Officer Long was not observing behavior. He was reacting to appearance.

[00:21:57]When Jon calmly and repeatedly asked what crime he was suspected of, Long had no answer. He defaulted to escalation, threats of handcuffs, removal of the mask, and a prolonged detention that the law did not authorize. The physical removal of the ski mask without consent was a warrantless search layered on top of an already unlawful seizure. None of this required complex legal analysis to get right. It required knowing the basic constitutional standard that defines the job. Sergeant Merloski gets a C. He made the correct decision to release Jon and he spoke to him with a degree of respect that officer Long had not extended. But then he reached for school proximity to justify what Long had done, which was the same flawed instinct dressed in different language. He also told Jon openly that people would keep calling about him, framing the citizen's lawful behavior as a problem the citizen should manage. A supervisor's job at a moment like this is not just to correct the outcome. It is to correct the reasoning.

[00:22:56]Merloski did half the work. J gets an A.

[00:23:00]He was detained without lawful basis and he knew it and he said so clearly and without aggression for 18 minutes straight. He asked the right question every single time. What crime am I suspected of? And he never stopped asking it. He submitted to the patown without abandoning his objection to the stop itself, which is exactly the distinction civil rights law asks citizens to make. He gave officer long no pretext to escalate beyond what Long was already determined to do. He cited Colorado law accurately. He cited relevant case law from memory. He asked for a supervisor and waited. And when Sergeant Molasi released him, Jon still made sure the legal record of the conversation was clear. This interaction is a reminder that knowing your rights and staying calm while they are being violated takes real discipline. John demonstrated both. Let us know if there is an interaction or legal topic you would like us to discuss in the comments below. Thank you for watching and don't forget to subscribe to Legal Logic for police accountability analysis.