The incident began when officers spotted the man walking along a snowy road just after midnight. It was below freezing, and the man — who had just finished a long shift at work — was dressed in regular clothes, carrying his backpack. That, apparently, was enough for suspicion. The officer later claimed he stopped to perform a “welfare check,” but the encounter quickly escalated far beyond that.
Bodycam footage shows the man explaining, “I just got off work. I’m walking home.” The officer replies, “That doesn’t make sense — why would you be out here with no coat?” When the man reiterates that he’s fine and doesn’t need help, the officer orders him to stop and begins questioning him as if he were a suspect.
The man, visibly confused, keeps repeating that he lives just a few blocks away. But instead of letting him go, the officer calls for backup, insisting that “something’s not right.” Moments later, the situation turns tense as the officer moves to detain him. “You’re not under arrest,” the officer says — before immediately handcuffing him.
The man protests, asking, “What did I do wrong?” The officer’s response only adds to the absurdity: “You’re walking in the cold without a jacket. That’s suspicious.” Viewers of the video have since expressed disbelief, calling it one of the most senseless arrests caught on camera.
After several minutes of confusion and humiliation, the man is finally released when officers verify his story — that he was indeed walking home from work and lived nearby. No charges were filed, but the damage was done. The video of the encounter, uploaded online, quickly went viral, amassing millions of views and triggering outrage across social media.
“This is exactly why people lose trust in law enforcement,” one commenter wrote. “How is walking home from work a crime?” Another added, “He was literally just cold. Not suspicious — not dangerous — just human.”
Civil rights groups have condemned the stop, calling it an unnecessary abuse of authority and a clear case of overreach. “There was no crime, no probable cause, and no justification,” said one legal analyst. “This man was treated like a suspect for existing outdoors in winter.”
The police department later released a statement saying the officer’s actions were “under review,” acknowledging that the situation “could have been handled differently.”
The man at the center of the incident says he’s still shaken by what happened. “I was tired, freezing, and just wanted to get home,” he told reporters. “Instead, I ended up in handcuffs for nothing.”
The video has since become a chilling reminder that sometimes, ordinary moments can turn into viral examples of power gone too far — all because someone decided that being cold looked like a crime.
