NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A group of police officers in Colorado held four young Black girls at gunpoint, handcuffed at least two of them and made them lie facedown in a parking lot because they thought their car was stolen — and part of the incident was caught on video.
Brittney Gilliam told 9NEWS she drove her nieces, sister and daughter, ages six through 17, to a nail salon in Aurora, Colorado on Sunday, but the group returned to their car when they discovered the salon was closed.
After they got back into the car, police surrounded the vehicle and held them at gunpoint, she told the outlet.
Police officers then handcuffed at least two of the girls and forced all of them to lie face down on the ground, video taken by a bystander shows.
The Aurora Police Department said the family's vehicle had a license plate number and description that matched those of a vehicle that had been reported stolen, but the stolen vehicle turned out to be a vehicle from a different state with the same license plate number, according to the outlet.
The officers let the family go and apologized, but Gilliam told the outlet there was "no excuse why (the department) didn't handle it in a different type of way."
Aurora Police Department Chief Vanessa Wilson released a statement on Monday apologizing for the incident.
"I have called the family to apologize and to offer any help we can provide, especially for the children who may have been traumatized by yesterday's events," she wrote. "I have reached out to our victim advocates so we can offer age-appropriate therapy that the city will cover."
