A Los Angeles Police Department officer has denied 'Django Unchained' actress Dainele Watts' claim that he detained her briefly by mistaking her for a prostitute.
The African-American actress had said police accused her of prostitution because she was being publicly affectionate with her white boyfriend, Brian James Lucas.
But policeman Jim Parker refuted the account of the actress, contending that he recorded the incident from the moment he got out of his car, said The Hollywood Reporter.
"She is lying. She is making malicious and false statements," Parker said.
He said he was already near the location to meet up with two other LAPD officers, when he got a call about public nudity at the corner of Radford Avenue and Ventura Boulevard, near CBS Studios.
Parker said he had no plan of arresting the couple. "People getting intimate in the car, no biggie. No one wants to arrest anybody," he said.
"And he (Lucas) said, 'Oh, I have her passport.' He was wearing two tourist bags around his neck and I assumed he had hers. She was feigning disinterest, but I could tell she was listening in. Then as you hear on the recording, she starts making a fuss, and quite frankly I don't need to see her ID but she does have to ID herself."
The recording features a woman's voice saying, "Do you know how many times the cops have been called because I'm black? Just because I'm black and he's white?" Later, she put her father, who she was speaking with on her cellphone, on speaker to talk to the police, saying, 'It's my right to stand on the street corner and make out with my boyfriend.'
Police, however, said they were doing more than making out. "There's no resisting; you're just interfering," a policeman is heard saying.
Parker said he knew the other officers were nearby when Watts walked away from him as the situation escalated, but he didn't want to chase after her or physically confront her.
The LAPD confirmed it is conducting an internal investigation because of the widespread publicity surrounding the incident.
If he hadn't made the recording, Parker said, "The three of us would be relieved of duty right now.
