WASHINGTON — What's it like to get arrested and processed by the DC police? Not very nice, said a Gaithersburg man who spent a night in detention, ending up with a citation for curfew violation.
Adrian Delossantos, 22, was not among the protesters who escaped from police by hiding out in a neighbor's house on Swann Street, Northwest on Monday night. The Amazon driver got picked up outside and taken to the DC Police Academy in Southwest for processing.
"First, they was trying to keep us standing up for six hours. And then we started arguing. Our little group started arguing. And they told us to sit down," said Delossantos.
He said police kept them outside almost all night without blankets, food, or water.
He said police finally put everyone inside a big room at the academy. But he says that might have been even worse.
"Why not separate it to a smaller room when there is COVID-19 going on? Why keep 200-300 people in a room, isolated, cramped up?"
Delossantos said he's had a cough but no fever, and is thinking he should get a coronavirus test.
DC's Police Chief says his officers were dealing with hundreds of arrestees that night.
A spokesperson with MPD says there was a large group arrested that took time to process.
“That night, from Swann Street, there were a lot of folks who had to go through processing. If he was caught up in that large group, it’s going take some time. If he feels he was mistreated, he can contact OPC (Office of Police Complaints). It’s my understanding, and I spoke to the captain in charge, there was available food and water.”
As for the social distancing in the large room, the spokesperson said:
“They were all on top of each other during the disturbance. We attempt to provide appropriate social distancing, but the numbers we were pushing through made it hard.”
Delossantos said he was just peacefully protesting, not rioting, looting, or throwing anything. He just ended up with a ticket.
As to the future: "I just want everybody to be peaceful out there man," he said.
