Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
By RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com, originally filed January 6, 2015
Today, I procured a copy of the actual incident report addressing Porsha Williams' speeding/suspended license arrest on December 29.
The "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star, who was demoted to "recurrent" status this season, was driving west-bound on I-20 near Moreland Ave.. at 3:55 p.m. on Monday Dec. 29, 2014 when the Georgia State Patrol arresting officer H. Tisdale Jr. pulled her over. For what it's worth, her suspended license identified her as 5 foot 7, 145 pounds and age 33. She was speeding at 78 miles an hour in a 55 zone. That would normally have resulted in a speeding ticket, case closed.
But when he found out she had a suspended license due to "Failure to Appear" for a prior citation, he decided to arrest her. According to the arrest report, he asked her to place her hands behind her back four times. She refused. When he threatened to be more physical, she complied but proceeded to call him a curse word multiple times, he wrote.
Here's what Tisdale wrote in his report verbatim (except for an expletive, which you can figure out even with the asterisks.) The reporting agency is the Georgia Department of Public Safety.
On the afternoon of December 29, 2014, I was patrolling I-20 in Fulton County. I observed a gold Rolls Royce traveling in the second lane from the barrier wall on I-20 at a high rate of speed. I activated my Stalker Laser which was checked for accuracy earlier this date. A speed of 78 mph was displayed. [The speed limit was 55.] I initiated a traffic stop in which the driver was identified as Ms. Porsha Dyanne Williams by her Georgia's Drivers License. As I ran the name of Ms. Williams through GCIC, a suspension for Failure to Appear was brought to my attention. I asked Ms. Williams to exit her vehicle and she complied. I advised Ms. Williams that her license was suspended for Failure to Appear. She stated she paid the citation. I told Ms. Williams four times to turn around and place her hands behind her back and she refused. On the fifth request. I stated I will be going hands on if you refuse to put your hands behind your back. At this time Ms. Williams complied and I placed handcuffs on Ms. Williams. Ms. Williams repeatedly used the term a**hole referring to me. TFC Mitnaul arrived to the scene and transported Ms. Williams to Atlanta Pre-trial without any further incident and released to their personnel. Several items were moved from the seating area of the vehicle to the trunk. The vehicle was towed to Buckhead Wrecker Service.
I was headed to visit my grandfather who is very ill with cancer in the hospital, and I was pulled over. I was wrong for speeding absolutely and apologize for putting anyone at risk. I tried to explain the situation to the officer and show him that all my paperwork was in order, but he refused. Handcuffs are not comfortable or a good look for anyone. I was released, I have my license, my car, and my freedom.
The website snarkily noted: "We expect this story to be grossly blown out of proportion then forgotten about. In the meantime, you can tune in to Dish Nation every night for more compelling entertainment stories than this one."
She didn't explain what her previous citation which led to her not showing up in court and being cited for "Failure to Appear." The police report has her say she had already paid the citation so she didn't understand why "Failure to Appear" even showed up. In her subsequent statement, she said she still has her license so perhaps that "Failure to Appear" was not valid.
I've contacted the "Dish Nation" spokesman to see if he can get some clarification from Porsha.
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