'We thought we were going to die': Terence Crawford's head of security shares perspective on traffic stop
A video has been circulating on social media showing an Omaha police officer pointing a gun at Terence Crawford. On Saturday at 1:30 a.m., Crawford was stopped by police on Cass Street.Crawford’s head of security, Qasim Shabazz, was in the car."A cop comes to my window. Cop goes to Bud's window. I know the protocol," Shabazz said. An officer with Omaha police told KETV that while Crawford was reaching to grab his information, like license and registration, the cop spotted a gun by Crawford’s feet."He asked Mr. Crawford to exit the vehicle, and he did. And then Mr. Crawford was placed in handcuffs while they conducted their investigation," said Omaha Mayor John Ewing, Jr.The other three passengers in the car were also ordered to step outside at gunpoint and placed in handcuffs.Police say they found two guns in the car, but confirmed that the people in the car were legally permitted to carry.But Shabazz says things went down differently, saying Crawford never reached for his license or registration."He told him, 'No, I don’t have it on me. I left everything at home.' He had already told them. So there was no reason for him to reach for anything," Shabazz said. Shabazz said both he and Crawford had guns on them. He told the police he had a firearm, following Nebraska law. He said things then escalated."Bud said, 'I have a firearm too.' The cop on his side — he went ballistic. Totally unhinged. He says, 'Get your hands up. Get out the car. Don’t reach, don’t reach.' But there was never a physical gun in sight," Shabazz said. "Everyone thought we were going to die, man." Crawford was then charged with reckless driving, despite Shabazz saying police pulled them over for speeding."Bud said, 'Well, how do you know I was speeding if you don’t have radar?' OK. But I actually have the cop on camera saying, 'I cannot — I admit that I do not have radar,'" Shabazz said. Shabazz has not shared the video with KETV.After hearing about the traffic stop, Ewing got involved."Myself, my chief of staff Tom Warren — both reached out to Mr. Crawford, and he indicated that he would like us to do an investigation," Ewing said.Ewing then contacted police Chief Todd Schmaderer, who authorized the internal affairs investigation. He hopes that by requesting body camera footage, there will be answers."Our job is to not speculate. Our job is to get the facts out to the people of this community, and then be transparent in every step of the process," Ewing said. KETV asked Omaha police to sit down for an interview. They decided to stick by their written statement. The investigation is still ongoing.
