UPDATE: Cop was patient, I was irrational. Board member apologizes for 'skinhead' insult

A South Orange-Maplewood School Board Member was caught on camera using foul language and apparently calling a police chief a "skinhead" after being pulled over for speeding last month -- the second recent incident in which a public official was recorded mouthing off to a cop.

In the dash cam video, obtained from police by NJ Advance Media, Stephanie Lawson-Muhammad can be heard using profanity and complaining when issued tickets by a South Orange police officer.

During the traffic stop, a hysterical Lawson-Muhammad threatens to "call Sheena...and your skinhead cop chief, too," apparently referencing South Orange Village President Sheena Collum and village Police Chief Kyle Kroll.

Earlier in the video, the board member can also be heard telling the officer, "I'm scared of cops because you guys hurt black people." Lawson-Muhammad, who cannot be seen on the video, only heard, is black.

In the video of the April 27 incident, Lawson-Muhammad was pulled over at just before 8 a.m. on Walton Avenue near the border of South Orange and Maplewood. She is heard telling the officer, "My name is Stephanie Lawson-Muhammad, I'm on the school board, I'm a community member of this town and I am sorry if I was speeding. I didn't realize I was speeding."

In the video, the officer tells Lawson-Muhammad she was driving 37 MPH in a 25 MPH zone.

The board member can be heard crying throughout most of the video. At one point, the officer asks her if she needs an ambulance because she appears to be having a "panic attack." She responds that she does not, and says, "that's an insult."

When the officer tells her that she is getting summonses for speeding and for not having a valid insurance card, Lawson-Muhammad starts to argue, saying, "for me to have to go to court, for me to have to go to court, now you want me to go to court? I don't want to go to court. I have insurance."

The board member threatens to call the high-ranking town officials after the officer says he cannot void a ticket that has already been written. Reached Wednesday, Kroll declined to comment on the incident. Collum did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Lawson-Muhammad and Maplewood South Orange School Board spokesperson Suzanne Turner did not respond to requests for comment.

Walter Fields, Chairman of local advocacy group the Black Parents Workshop, which is suing the school district on an unrelated matter, issued a statement Wednesday condemning the board member.

"Ms. Lawson-Muhammad must issue a public apology to this officer. Given the lengths to which efforts are underway nationwide and locally to address the real issue of police brutality against African Americans, it is appalling that this Board Member would conduct herself in this way," he said in the statement. The group called for her resignation from the board.



"The officer should be commended for his professionalism, demeanor and the respect he showed a citizen who immediately tried to use her position to intimidate him."

The incident comes less than a month after Port Authority Commissioner Caren Turner resigned in the wake of a dash cam video that showed her cursing at cops and apparently trying to use her position to stop them from impounding a car her daughter was in.

Olivia Rizzo may be reached at orizzo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @LivRizz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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