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Police officers were called on a Black man who was attempting to cash his check at the bank. Paul McCowns was at a branch of Huntington Bank in Brooklyn, Ohio where the incident took place reports WOIO.

McCowns went to the bank to cash $1,082 check and since he didn’t have an account at the back he produced two forms of identification and volunteered to be fingerprinted. The teller was suspicious and was unsure the check was real and asked for McCowns boss’ phone number.

“They tried to call my employer numerous times. He never picked up the phone,” McCowns said, according to WIS10.

The teller then refused to cash the check, therefore, McCowns left the bank.

“I get in my truck, and the squad car pulls in front of me, and he says get out the car,” he recalled.

A staff member called the police as McCowns left. During the 911 call, the employee can be heard accusing McCowns of fraud.

“He’s trying to cash a check, and the check is fraudulent. It does not match our records,” the caller said.

“Does he know you called 911?” the operator asks.

“No,” they answer.

Cops showed up and handcuffed McCowns who was placed in the back of the police car until his employer called to confirmed his employment.

“My employer said, ‘Yes, he works for me. He just started, and yes, my payroll company does pay him that much,’” McCowns said. He believes he was racially profiled and wants the bank to apologize to him.

A Huntington spokesperson released a statement on the incident:

“We sincerely apologize to Mr. McCowns for this extremely unfortunate event. We accept responsibility for contacting the police as well as our own interactions with Mr. McCowns,” the Huntington spokesperson said. “Anyone who walks into a Huntington branch should feel welcomed. Regrettably, that did not occur in this instance, and we are very sorry.”

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