Tonight was suppose to be a nice night out with family. I was going to meet Beto and his wife, Emmanuel's family from Mexico, for the first time. We even had plans to go out to dinner at Phil's BBQ after they were done with their shopping spree. Instead, we had to endure one of the worst experiences of our lives.
Here is what happened:
Perla, Nathan, Senora Rosa, Emmanuel, and I headed over to Fashion Valley mall around 8:30pm where we were going to meet up with Beto and his wife who had been shopping all day. When we got to the mall, we waited for them in the parking lot where they would soon arrive with their shopping bags. Aafter a few minutes they met up with us. We then decided that we would follow each other to the restaurant in separate cars. Emmanuel, along with Nathan and I decided to go on the car that Beto and his wife had arrived in so that they could go on the same car as Emmanuel's Mom. That was the plan but not soon after we were on our way, still in the parking structure, did we see the flashing lights of two police cars. One of the cops directed us WITH HIS GUN! to park the car. Then two different cops directed Emmanuel, Nathan, and I to step out of the car. They also directed Perla to stop her car & do the same as us.The whole time we had guns pointed on all of us. All while this was happening, I couldn't help to stare in confusion as to why we were being pulled over in such a manner. We had done nothing wrong!
This is were things start to make little sense: The reason for the whole scene was due to the mall's Loss and prevention guys had been eyeing Beto and his wife all day while they did their shopping. They believed that Beto and Mari were the "Mexicans" who had been committing fraud here in the United States. To them, Beto and Mari fit the racial profile of the real perpetrators because they were Mexicans, who were buying a lot of things. So while we stood there, unable to even let Emmanuel's mom sit somewhere, Beto and Mari had to answer a gazillion questions . In the mean while, the cops went through our purses, their shopping bags, and cars. Not only did they make all of us feel like criminals but the cops were real ASSHOLES!. Beto and his wife had to show their ID's, take "mugshots" for evidence, and show receipts as well as the forms of payment (credit card, cash, etc..) for all the things they had bought. Such an embarrassing situation.
In the end the cops realized it was all a great misunderstanding. We were all innocent. Nobody did anything wrong and we were not the "Mexicans" they were looking for. But it had to take an eternity for these idiot Cops to figure this out. Their small minded brains and big egos were a great factor as to the way they treated us. Many people may say that the way that approached us is protocol but they can't fool us. After this incident, we are all on board on suing Fashion valley mall. We also have substantial proof/evidence that the way they treated us and approached was mostly due to RACIAL PROFILING! I mean, poor Nathan who is 9 was crying! How can a human being do this to a kid, especially point a gun at him! The thing that got me even more mad was that after everything, not one of the cops or loss prevention people came over & apologize to us when they finally realized WE WERE INNOCENT!
Our night was definitely ruined but after we sue them, we will see who has the last laugh. I still keep playing the scene back in my head and wish I would of demanded an apology as well as their names. At the time we were still very shaken up that all we wanted to do was get out of the mall.
P.s After this awful ordeal, we headed out to InNout to eat, then to Emmanuel's house where I beat Emmanuel at Chess. He said he let me win but I know I kicked butt. Either way it was a great distraction. I am still shaking from what happened tonight.
