Ozark Judge tells father, ‘apologize or go to jail,’ in addition to a $200 ticket for going 28 in a 25

OZARK, Ala. (WDHN) — A Skipperville father’s encounter with Ozark police is garnering nationwide attention.

Reginald Burks is facing jail time in Dale County if he doesn’t apologize to the officer who pulled him over in December of 2023 for allegedly going over the speed limit of 25 miles per hour while taking his kids to school. Burks is accused of swearing at that cop.

Burks, speaking to News Nation, said that the officer who pulled him over did not use a radar, telling Burks that it was broken, but was charged with going 3 over the marked speed limit.

“He wrote me [the] ticket, he stood at the car and he wouldn’t move from in front of the mirror of my car and I kept asking him to move but he wouldn’t so I eventually told him, ‘Hey get your *** out of the way,’ but he just kept standing there,” Burks said during the interview with News Nation.

Burks went to court to pay the $211 speeding ticket, including an additional $20 fine, but Ozark Municipal Judge Nicholas Bull ordered Burks that he must apologize to the officer who wrote him a ticket or go to jail!

If Burks fails to apologize by June 4, he faces 30 days in jail. He was charged with speeding for going 3 mph over the posted speed limit.

Burks, who is Black, suggested he wouldn’t be facing potential jail time if he were white.

“Probably not. Most of the time, all you see is Black African Americans getting arrested or locked up or ticketed for something crazy … for no reason,” he said. “I’m just sick of it.”

Burks’ attorney, David Harrison, says they plan to file a federal lawsuit if Burks is sent to jail when he goes to court in June.

Watch Burks and Harrison’s full interview on News Nation here.

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