Tupelo mayor responds to Wesley Wells incident at mall

Tupelo businessman was detained after police thought he was a shoplifter

Footage of the night police detained businessman wesley wells at the mall at barnes crossing.

Officers said he matched the description of a shoplifter, who wore a white hat and shirt.

However, wells said he was walking, and not the person officers were looking for.

That's when officers handcuffed him and put him in the backseat of a patrol car.

Law enforcement eventually released him after a worker at the shoplifted store cleared him... less than 24 hours after the incident, tupelo police suspended two of the officers, and others received training or counseling.

Three days later, they're back on the job.

Wtva's wayne hereford joins us live in tupelo after speaking with mayor jason shelton who reinstated the officers and wells' attorney about the case.... tupelo businessman wesley wells was taking a leisurely walk around the mall when tupelo police did a search, handcuffed him, and placed him in the back of a patrol car.

Wells was later let go without any charges.

But for the mayor it points to a problem of why body cameras and dash cameras were not used properly.

I also spoke to wesley wells' attorney jim waide about the ordeal.

Disturbing ."

"when an individual is pulled over by a police car in the city of tupelo, there should be dash can audio and video.

The officers uniform should have a camera that should also contain audio and video, and then if a person is detained , placed in the squad car they should likewise be a video."

"the first thing that is most shocking is a covid issue.

Wesley is most definitely afraid of covid .

He watched a family relative die unable to get their breath ...the facte that two officers did not put their masks on out there is very disturbing."

Meanwhile, the attorney for both officer roy noe and daniel porch ...the facte that two officers did not put their masks on out there is very disturbing."

Meanwhile, the attorney for both officer roy noe and daniel porch released