‘Could Have Been Killed’: Former Black NFL Player Detained at Gunpoint After Cops Confuse Him for White Teenager, Plans to File Lawsuit
Arizona cops were searching for a 19-year-old white man involved in a shooting when they detained a 53-year-old Black and former NFL football player at gunpoint earlier this year, along with his 26-year-old daughter. This week, Wesley Leasy, who played linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals in the mid-1990s, filed a notice of claim against the Mesa and Phoenix police departments which is the precursor to a lawsuit, demanding a million dollar settlement to keep the lawsuit from being filed. Wesley Leasy (right) and his daughter, Jade Leasy, were detained at gunpoint after Arizona cops confused him for a white teenager (upper left) suspected of violent crimes. (Photos: Taylor & Gomez law firm and facebook.com/wesley.leasy) “I’ve never been so afraid in my entire life,” Leasy said in an interview with NBC News. “That will be with me until my time comes.” The incident took place on April 10 as Leasy was picking up his daughter, Jade Leasy, from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport after she returned from a business trip to Atlanta. Meanwhile, Mesa police said they were in a helicopter tracking a white Mercedes Benz with temporary tags driven by a white man suspected of murder but they lost track of him. Mesa police said they detained Leasy and his daughter because he had also been driving a white Mercedes Benz with temporary tags and they figured it was the same car they had been tracking. But not only is white the most popular color for cars in the Phoenix metro area, mostly because it absorbs less heat in an area that frequently reaches triple digit temperatures during the summer, the Mercedes Benz is also a popular car, mostly in Scottsdale, a upper-scale municipality in the Valley of the Sun. Store Clerks Call Phoenix Police On a White Man Causing a Disturbance, But Cops Show Up and Within Seconds Assault the Black Man on the Scene Instead, Video Shows Leasy, who lives in Scottsdale, said he had just purchased the car which is why it had temporary tags. "I have a brand new Mercedes. It's got temporary plates on it but here in the state of Arizona, in Scottsdale, where I live, there are a ton of white Mercedes that are around here,” he told NBC News. Leasy, who runs a Scottsdale construction company, also ran for Arizona House of Representatives as a Democrat in 2022 but was defeated. https://twitter.com/FlagBlack007/status/1976004230067736845 ‘Embarrassing and Traumatizing’ Benjamin Taylor, the attorney representing the father and daughter, told Atlanta Black Star that he did not have the unedited body camera video but local media obtained it and posted clips of it in their reports. “Mr. Leasy and his daughter could have been killed by Mesa and Phoenix Police,” Taylor said in an emailed statement to Atlanta Black Star. According to the notice of claim, Leasy had just pulled into the airport and parked his car as his daughter stepped out of the terminal with her luggage. He stepped out of the car, hugged and kissed his daughter, then placed her luggage in the trunk of his car. Within moments, Mesa cops began yelling at them to get on the ground under threat of gunfire and body camera video shows they complied instantly. The cops then handcuffed them both. “During the incident, Mr. Leasy was terrified for his life as well as the life of his Daughter,” the notice of claim states. “There was physical force applied in order to handcuff Mr. Leasy. He asked for an explanation of the Officers’ actions, but he did not receive one until he was released from his restraints.” They were released within 20 minutes after the cops discovered the suspect they were seeking was a white teenager and not a middle-aged Black man. “The incident was embarrassing and traumatizing for Mr. Leasy and his Daughter, who still do not understand how Officers could have erred so badly,” the claim continues. “Jade Leasy’s former co-worker witnessed this incident and vouched for Jade Leasy to the Officers that she was his co-worker and she was returning from a work trip.” The white suspect’s name is Hayden Beever who was arrested five days after the initial incident and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, armed robbery and drug possession. He has since been convicted and sentenced to prison, according to the Arizona Department of Corrections website. He is scheduled for release in 2029. Meanwhile, Leasy and his daughter are still recovering emotionally from having their lives threatened by armed agents of the state. “Mr. Leasy just wanted to pick up his daughter from the airport. The suspect was a white young male that looks nothing like Mr. Leasy or his daughter,” Taylor said in his statement to Atlanta Black Star. “The Leasy’s have suffered mentally and physically by the abuse of having police rifles pointed at their head for no reason. We are seeking justice for them.” Taylor of the Taylor & Gomez law firm in Phoenix is also one of the attorneys representing Jalen Woods, the Black Chicago cop who was arrested by Tempe police in Arizona for chirping his tires last year. Last year, Phoenix police arrested and abused another Black man after responding to a call of a white man creating a disturbance inside a convenience store, resulting in the cops being suspended for 24 hours. Watch NBC’s video report on Leasy's detainment below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?vheEyr0sX69U
