Police have confirmed that they are investigating the video of a car salesman who appears to be urinating on a Black woman’s driver’s license after deciding she didn’t want to buy a car she took on a test drive.
On Sunday, the woman who owns the license, Leah Jefferson, took to social media to explain the encounter.
She said earlier that day, she visited NH Auto Sales in Kenosha, Wisconsin because she was interested in purchasing a vehicle. She explained that when she arrived, she spoke with an employee named Bryan Slaven to inquire.
Next thing she knew, a clip was posted to Slaven’s Snapchat account where he is heard saying “This is what happens. Do you want to see what else is going to happen? Think you are going to say stupid sh*t to us?”
Jefferson said before she went to test drive a car at the dealership, she was asked to turn in her license, which she says she understood was standard practice and agreed to do.
She said after driving the car for 30 minutes, she returned and inquired further about the car. She decided she would not purchase the vehicle and proceeded to leave the establishment.
“We left and headed back to town [and we realized] I never got my ID back from Bryan and his counterpart. I called Bryan immediately and told him I left my ID,” she said. “My exact words were, ‘I left my ID [so] can I cashapp you like $5 to send back to me.’ I don’t have time to just drive an hour away I made time today because I was viewing a car but I work all the time.”
She continued: “BRYAN’S response was along the lines of, [I’m] not in the office right now. I don’t have your ID, and I wont be back until Monday.’”
She says she then responded: “’Okay, can I call you on Monday?’ Mind you, I went out of my way to ask can I call you on Monday to get MY PERSONAL PROPERTY BACK.”
“Bryan’s response back was, ‘Yeah.’ We hung up, here I am thinking damn K don’t have my ID I cant get a drink after this non successful car lot day. Then BOOM.”
She says she then shared the conversation she had with someone on Instagram. The user said they had seen a video of a car salesman urinating on her license, adding that he posted the video without blurring her face, name and address, which was publicly displayed on the internet.
Jefferson felt “violated” and was “sick to [her] stomach” when she saw the video, she recalled.
Authorities have since released a statement about the incident, letting the public know that the Kenosha Police Department “is aware of a disgusting act of disrespect towards a person’s property, a video of which is being widely shared on social media. We have been in contact with the victim and are working with that person on the investigation.”
The statement concludes: “KPD is also aware that this video has been viewed, a lot! We are aware of the threats being made … [and] while we can understand that viewing this video causes emotional reactions, we cannot and will not tolerate any acts of violence towards those [seemingly] responsible or associated with the business or the business itself.”
