A New Jersey man said police pulled him over after they first saw him sitting in his car at his own apartment complex. Jamaal M. Holmes said an officer then asked him to prove he could use the handicap placard displayed in the vehicle.
According to Atlanta Black Star, Holmes, 34, of Ocean County, faces charges of obstructing the law and resisting arrest stemming from the June 2 stop. He alleged the officers conducted the stop in bad faith and as a blatant act of racial profiling.
Video Holmes recorded of the encounter circulated widely online. Jackson Township Police Chief Mary Nelson said in a June 7 statement that the department launched an internal investigation.
He was apparently stopped for an expired inspection ticket
Holmes said in a June 2 Instagram post that officers first drove by him as he sat in his car, on the phone, in the parking lot of his apartment complex. He said he then left the complex and drove more than three miles before police stopped him.
On the recording, the officer stated his reason for the stop. The officer said Holmes looked suspicious when he ducked down in the car. The officer said: “I was a little concerned. It looks like you were reaching down, hiding your face when we came by. You’re wearing a sweatshirt in 80-degree weather. You got a handicap placard up. There’s people that complain in The Mews about people parking in handicapped spots.”
Holmes asked, “Was I parked in a handicap spot?” The officer replied, “No, I was just wondering if you have any documentation of that. I’m just telling you everything.”
Holmes handed over his driver’s license and paperwork. He asked for the officers’ badge numbers and to speak with a supervisor. The officer asked, “Is that where you live? You live in the Mews? You live there?”
The officer then told Holmes to step out of the car. Holmes refused until a supervisor arrived and said, “I know my rights.” The officer then made him exit the vehicle and placed him under arrest. Such encounters with police have been reported elsewhere, like a Texas man who shared how an Amarillo officer tracked him 76 times in five months.
Holmes told the officer, “Bro, yo! Now you just broke my f–ing door handle, bro.” He continued to ask for a supervisor and said, “Yo, why you grabbing me, bro? Why you ripping my papers?”
In the same Instagram post, Holmes said he asked for medical attention at the police station. He wrote: “When my phone stops recording, they are slamming me up against my car, twisting my arms and crushing my back, that has screws and rods from a spinal fusion just 2 years ago.”
Police later said they stopped Holmes for an expired inspection sticker. Officers did not give him that reason during the recorded stop, according to the video. Court records reviewed by News12 confirm officers ticketed him for that violation. The encounter is one of several recent police stops involving Black men that escalate, like a welfare check in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.
Holmes appeared in court on July 16 and denied committing any crime. His attorney, Joseph Champagne, told local news outlets the judge delayed the case because Jackson Township police have not yet turned over bodycam footage.
Champagne said: “Based on the video we have reviewed so far, Mr. Holmes asked a basic question: Why was he being stopped? A basic question deserves a basic answer.”
Published: Sep 15, 2026 07:45 am