Edina releases dashcam videos of aftermath of police encounter

Edina city officials released the police dashcam videos of a black man who was stopped and given a citation for walking in the street.

Last week, a seven-minute video of the incident that was taken by a bystander went viral, sparking outrage about how the man was treated.

This week, city officials said they believe "officers followed established protocol," but dismissed the citation and apologized to a crowd that jammed the City Council chambers to discuss the incident.

Three separate dashcam videos released Friday show the aftermath of the incident. There's no footage of the man walking in the street or the confrontation between the man, Larnie B. Thomas, and plainclothes Edina Police Lt. Tim Olson.

In one video, Thomas is shown sitting in the back of a squad and is heard asking an officer if he is going to jail. The officer says he doesn't know and that he's "trying to get things figured out."

Thomas later tells the officer, "I feel like I didn't do anything wrong."

When the officer asks Thomas to tell his side of the story, he explains he was walking on the white line that separates traffic from the shoulder where cars park.

In the bystander's video of the incident, the officer tells Thomas he's being stopped for walking in the middle of the street. Thomas tells the officer he's on the white line.

The confrontation escalates quickly when Olson grabs Thomas by the back of his jacket. Thomas becomes agitated, swearing and questioning why he was being detained. He was cited but not arrested.

In a statement after the video went viral, police said Thomas being in the street was a threat to his safety and that he became defiant when the officer asked him to stop.

One dashcam video shows a sidewalk under construction. Another is only audio of interviews with two witnesses. A woman is heard saying that she didn't see Thomas doing anything wrong and that he was "really afraid" when he was confronted by the officer. Another witness said he saw Thomas walking down the middle of the street and being hostile toward the officer.

Staff writer Liz Sawyer contributed to this report. Mary Lynn Smith • 612-673-4788