Police Shoot Wrong Man in His Own Driveway

January 5th, 2009

Robert Tolan

Attorneys for a 23-year-old east Texas man, whom police shot in his own driveway after mistaking his SUV for a stolen car, say he was a victim of racial profiling. Robert Tolan, and his cousin, Anthony Cooper, were returning from a fast-food shop when police officers pulled up to Tolan’s home and ordered both men to the ground. Witnesses say that the two young men complied immediately and were lying on the sidewalk near his parents’ front door when Tolan looked up and protested the way the officers were treating his mother. She had come outside to see what all the commotion was about, United Press International reports. That’s when Bellaire Police Sgt. Jeff Cotton shot him, UPI reports. Police also fired at least two other shots, but they missed, witnesses said. Tolan, a former Bellaire High School baseball star and the son of former major league player Bobby Tolan, was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital. Officials said he is expected to recover fully, UPI reports. “We want the district attorney to charge this officer,” said Geoffrey Berg. “There can’t be an explanation that can justify what the police did to this kid.” David Berg, another family attorney, said race prompted the shooting. Tolan is Black, and Cotton is White. “There’s no doubt in my mind that if these had been two White kids, they never would have been shot,” Berg said. Cotton, who has been on the force for 10 years, is on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, Bellaire Assistant City Manager Diane K. White told UPI. Bobby Tolan said his son was pursuing a professional baseball career and has never had any trouble with Bellaire Police.

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Comments

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ELAINA Said on

EVERYONE KEEP SAYING HOW DUMB AND STUPID DAVID IS BUT YALL THE DUMB ONES. DAVID IS GETTING THE ATTENTION THAT HE WANTS ON HERE. I’M TELLING YOU, DON’T SAY ANOTHER THING TO HIM AND THE CRACKHEAD WOULD GO AWAY. LONG AS YOU FEED INTO IT HE WILL BE HERE. MOVING ON THO. THAT WAS A SAID THING THAT HAPPENED AND I HOPE JUSTICE WILL BE SERVED.



Taskmaster Said on

Bush ,s home State Where he himself killed more blackman then any other Gov. the Poilce think nothing of killing a Blackman , tHEY THINK IT ,S PRAT OF THEIR JOB.



Taskmaster Said on

what,s wrong tratior sarced of the truth? Am being to know about u real , real well.;



Taskmaster Said on

Am talking about u B.E.T..



Taskmaster Said on

Do u really think that u can,t be trouch by Black law HUH..



olounwa Said on

oluanwa said on January 5th, 2009
People in this country has no respect for the law anyway. In my country, you would get the sh:t beat out of you.
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they say imitation is a form of flattery.. so, good try but not perfect.. typical yank, you couldnt get the user name right cos you dont know what it means.. lol!!! hahahahahahahahahaha!! to think you went to the bother of registering under a pretend username cos my opinons frustrate you.!! sad yank….



Taskmaster Said on

Fuc u and your Eruopean masters cause yoiur tiume is running out Mother, Duckers.



Taskmaster Said on

Olounwa I know your not triing to defend these Eruopeans ? , Cause if your are your faith will be woses then their ,s . Your Name mean,s nothing to us while for over500 year,s u our so called brother said nothing for us or about us .It is us the Afor -American who has talked about and other Brothers and Sister arcoss the sea . we were more concen about u then u about us .



Taskmaster Said on

Blackman up boy.



OLOUNWA Said on

taskmaster or what your current user name is… am not posting to you so get off it.. was your name there?. your username is a white one so what is your point exactly?.



olounwa Said on

look taskmaster.. was i posting to you ?. that post was directed at a specific poster but if it is you who put up the post trying to use my name then it is directed at you, if you arent the one then i suggest you move on.. and you are right.. am not concerned about you…you are an american full stop use it the way obama has and quit with the story telling.. nobody on the planet is listening anymore..



olounwa Said on

Thelma said on January 5th, 2009
In the city I live in,we had the same thing happen last year and it didn’t even make national news. It was only on local news channels for about a week. In this situation the cop was black and the victim was white,and it was caught on camera. This black cop had already been transferred because of police brutality. I sometimes wonder why the media only reports when it’s a white cop involved. I live in Los Angeles where more than 50% of the police force are minority. The media loves to inrage the Inner cities. Know the facts before making judgments. There good white cops and bad ones. There are good black cops and bad ones. It’s to bad the media wasn’t a liitle more honest. Racism Sells.
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now, this is what i call and honest, even handed opinion. and one to be respected..pity most black americans cant think..let alone think rationally like this poster..



vikizz Said on

olaunwa and Thelma: Are you both basing this honesty on just the people posting here or in America? Because I haven’t seen you presented any research, statistics, interviews, surveys, etc. to base your honesty on.

Yes:
1 – The media loves all the drama
2 – There are good black cops and bad ones
3 – A lot of people scream about racism and the “white man” holding them down

It is pretty clear to me that you (Thelma) are not black and maybe a little bias and ignorant. Have you met all of these kids and asked them about their daily lives? You’re being as ignorant as the cops who kill because they can. Your ignorance of the facts of life is what gives these killers the comfort of doing the things they do.

You said, “… they don’t have a clue of what struggle is about…” Everyday is a struggle. It is a struggle for some kids to get to school and back alive. It is a struggle for some adults to go to work and deal with racial issues from their boss and other employees of other races. My sister got fired yesterday because she spoke up about the way the white management was treating the black staff. The white staff members were being treated favorably and she being who she is did not accept it and lost her job because she voiced her opinion. I could go on and on about issues, but unless I can compare black people daily struggles to maybe that of Halocaust survivors it would not seem like anything to complain about for you. Everyone has a right to complain about injustice, whether it is deserving of the national news or local news. RACISM is alive and kicking in good ole AMERICA and people like you Thelma, has no problem with that. The thing you have a problem with is victims complaining about it because their complaints are too small or that they have not struggled enough. GET REAL THELMA!!!

THANK GOD FOR OBAMA!!!!



NiCoLE Said on

3 things………1)DAVID-Get a Life………….2)DAVID’s Friend–Stop Being David’s Friend………………………3)All The RACIAL white people GET READY FOR WAR!!!!!



Julie Said on

OK, so I might get a lot of crap for this, but here it is. I am white. I was linked to this story from another site. And after reading the comments, I really think I need to say SOMETHING…This was OBVIOUSLY a race-related shooting. It’s messed up and I can’t believe in 2009 that this kind of thing is still happening. I feel terribly that this man had to go through this for absolutely no reason. I am by NO MEANS a racist. I DO think that racism needs to end…PERIOD. I don’t care if your black, white, hispanic, asian…I DON’T CARE! I love everyone until you give me a reason not to. I am SO TIRED of it only being the WHITE person who is racist. Maybe I’m just ignorant on the subject and just don’t understand where everyone is coming from.



Zach Said on

The disrespectful manner that the Mayor used in the 1st City Council meeting following the incident really should be a line of demarkation for the ‘FAIR’ citizen’s of Bellaire, Texas in the next election, she continues to defend COTTON, the stinking redneck, trailer park trash bag. . .



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