Can’t a brother just workout out in peace at the gym? My boyfriend and I wanted to work out today, but our regular gym doesn’t open until 1 on Sunday, so we decided to go pay for a day visit at a gym in Durham. Peak Fitness on 15501 Chapel Hill Blvd. About an hour into it, he was lifting dumb bells in that back corner of the gym when out of the corner of his eye he saw no less than about 20 Durham police officers closing in. And what? They were comin after him. I know in white America you hear phrases like DWB (driving while black), you hear lyrics from rappers like, "put ur hands up nigga - you fit the description". And you just laugh, until it happens. Sure enough they came up to him "put the dumb bells down and put your hands behind your back". These officers literally swarmed around him, telling me to step back away. Being an intelligent black man, he recognized that when surrounded by literally 20 or more police officers, it’s likely best to do exactly what they say, and he did. He was handcuffed and escorted to an adjacent area out of view. I questioned the police officers as to what was the problem and they started asking me questions. I got his I.D. out of the truck and gave them the information they needed to verify his identity. Apparently, the manager of the gym thought he was some fugitive of justice; some heavy hitting drug dealer, and called the police. The police later told us that the guy they were looking for had been last seen running from a Peak fitness gym. Now does common sense say that you would return to a place where you were last seen running from if you were a criminal? Unfortunately the gym manager, Barrett, didn’t feel a need to show the police officers the copy of his drivers license he had made when we signed in, or the information from his credit card we used to pay for the day visit. Had he done that, the police officers could’ve ascertained that he was not their man without the public embarrassment and humiliation suffered by he and I. Instead, he was detained for approximately 15 minutes, not to mention the interference of our workout. However, not to be thrown off his game, he did finish.
It’s disconcerting to think what might’ve happened had I not been able to produce his i.d. The situation was further aggravated by the fact that the manager of the gym (also a black man) so easily put him out there like that, and never apologized, offered a free visit or better still refunded the $30 paid for the day visit. He very clearly saw us as we were leaving the facility and acted like a little punk, playing like he didn’t see us. My boyfriend is 6’5" and not easily missed!
No the manager did not refund his $30 paid for the day visit
No the manager did not offer a free visit to make up for his error.
No the manager did not apologize.
Yes, we did write a letter of complaint and will update IF we hear back.
Yes, the Durham Police Dept did apologize and gave us all the information we would need to file a complaint.
It’s disconcerting to think what might’ve happened had I not been able to produce his i.d. The situation was further aggravated by the fact that the manager of the gym (also a black man) so easily put him out there like that, and never apologized, offered a free visit or better still refunded the $30 paid for the day visit. He very clearly saw us as we were leaving the facility and acted like a little punk, playing like he didn’t see us. My boyfriend is 6’5" and not easily missed!
No the manager did not refund his $30 paid for the day visit
No the manager did not offer a free visit to make up for his error.
No the manager did not apologize.
Yes, we did write a letter of complaint and will update IF we hear back.
Yes, the Durham Police Dept did apologize and gave us all the information we would need to file a complaint.
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