This phenomenon was not a new experience for Polo, and no matter where he was or what he was doing, it seemed he was guilty of only one crime: shopping while black.
So he came up with the brilliant idea to catch the clerks on camera and uploaded the resulting videos to Vine.
"[The employee] been following me around the store the whole time "he explain in one, but before he can continue, his camera lens catches her close behind him once again.
"There she goes!" he says. "She thinks I'm stealing."
A number of African-Americans have experienced the perils of shopping while black, including a few very famous folks. President Barack Obama has shared stories about being followed in department stores when he was young. Last year, a Swiss clerk-refused to show Oprah Winfrey a handbag because it would "cost too much."
But when people who aren't presidents or media moguls are discriminated against, the incident tends to go on unchecked. But Polo's vines put his experience -- and the experiences of so many others -- center stage, and he took to Twitter to say how happy he was his videos could make even the smallest difference.
Aaron "AJ" Huntsman, 45, entered an Alford plea before a Larimer County judge on Wednesday, to third-degree larceny and tampering with evidence. The plea means Huntsman maintains his innocence, but believes there is a substantial likelihood that he would be found guilty.
Probably because he is GUILTY!
Huntsman was arrested in November 2012, after an investigation into the theft of jewelry and cash from John Scalesse, a 49-year-old man who was killed in a fatal motorcycle accident in September 2012.
Authorities said Huntsman, a trooper based out of Bridgeport, was one of the emergency workers who responded to the scene of Scalesse's accident. After the accident, the victims' family notified police that his gold crucifix and $3,700 in cash were missing,
State Police investigators determined the items were not logged into evidence by Huntsman. An extensive investigation into the complaint was then launched and detectives located the missing jewelry and, "a large amount of cash from the police cruiser" Huntsman was driving, police said in a November 2012 press release.
Further examination of the police cruiser revealed the dashboard camera had captured video of Huntsman taking the jewelry from a pool of blood and the roll of bills from Scalesse.
So he's a thief and a dummy, who apparently forgot that he was on camera.
After Huntsman entered his Alford plea, Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin reportedly said he plans to sentence Huntsman to 16 months behind bars and five years of probation. That sentence is expected to be handed down on Oct. 3.
"John didn't deserve his memory to be tarnished like this and we are finally glad it's almost over," Scalesse's mother, Marguerite Scalesse, told The Connecticut Post.
Huntsman was suspended from his job after he was arrested and remains free on bail until his sentencing.
It happened Tuesday evening in Gainesville, Florida.
48-year-old Joseph Carl had been drinking and drove into a vehicle stopped at a red light. He got out of his truck without putting it in park and began banging on the window of a woman's car. When the frightened woman drove away, there was nothing holding his truck in place.
The truck rolled into Carl. A police report says he was taken to the hospital where he was treated for fractures in his hand and foot.
He's charged with DUI and DUI property damage. It isn't known whether he's obtained a lawyer.
Word to the wise. If you ever decide to get out of your car to be a jerk, make sure you put it in park first.
PR
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