COMMERCE, Texas (AP) — An east Texas city has asked a law firm to investigate the arrest of Miss Black Texas 2016 after she and officers gave differing accounts of the incident.
Carmen Ponder says Commerce police arrested her Saturday after a confrontation with a motorist who made a racist and sexist comment toward her. Ponder identified the driver as Police Chief Kerry Crews.
She says officers arrested her as she left a Wal-Mart and told her to apologize to Crews, which she refused.
The city says in a statement issued Thursday that Crews was shopping off-duty and responded to the incident, but wasn’t driving the truck. The chief has been placed on leave during the investigation.
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Ponder’s attorney says she may have misidentified the driver, but she was still wrongfully arrested.