On February 22, a former American Idol contestant was arrested and booked on a trespassing charge in Los Angeles.
The incident, which a witness captured on video, shows officers handcuffing the Season 17 finalist on the LA Metro. In the video, he protests that he’s unable to show officers his train ticket because his phone died. Though he offered to get off the train and buy another ticket, officers instead took him off to jail.
Dimitrius Graham was arrested on Sunday in Los Angeles
In addition to reposting the video on his Instagram, Idol alum Dimitrius Graham posted his own account of the incident. He claimed that LAPD locked him behind bars for 24 hours. Furthermore, he claimed that he lost a veneer and his wrist was fractured by officers over a $1.75 fare.
Though he believes he was “racially profiled,” he doesn’t blame the police, according to TMZ. He thinks officers “wouldn’t be so mad” and ready to attack if they had better pay and more time off.
“I ain’t never been to jail before,” the top ten contestant said in his own video. “I don’t have a record, so that was really crazy.”
The singer, who also competed on The Voice Season 27, added that this wasn’t the first time he’d been racially profiled. “But to know that somebody actually cared and captured the moment made me feel so much better,” he added.
TMZ reported that officers thought Dimitrius was “acting erratically” when they approached him, and he refused to leave the train as requested. They said he only offered to buy another ticket after he was detained.
As far as his alleged injuries go, officers say they took a use of force report after Dimitrius complained of pain in his wrist. However, a supervisor found no wrongdoing on the part of the officers. They also took a report to document the singer’s claim of biased policing.
The arrest comes only days after Season 12 contestant Caleb Flynn was arrested in Ohio, suspected of killing his wife.
American Idol airs on Mondays at 8/7c on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu and Disney+.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK OFFICERS SHOULD HAVE JUST LET HIM BUY ANOTHER TICKET? WAS THE ARREST JUSTIFIED?
