Michael Blackson details how he was pulled over by police with guns in the US

American-based Ghanaian comedian Michael Blackson has shared a harrowing story of how he was pulled over by gun-wielding police officers in the United States.

Narrating the experience during an interview with Kwaku Sintim-Misa (KSM) on the KSM Show, Blackson said in 1994, he, along with Kevin Hart and other comedians, were pulled over by state troopers while driving to New York for a show.

The reason for the stop was the licence plate on their vehicle, which, unbeknownst to them, was reported stolen as part of a scheme to avoid parking fines.

The situation escalated quickly as the police, believing the car to be stolen, drew their guns and ordered the comedians out of the vehicle.

"Before they (the police) pull you over, the first thing they'll do is read the licence plate of the car and call it in so they can get all the information on it.

“Now, back in Philadelphia, whenever you park illegally, you get a ticket, and the more tickets you get, after a while, they're going to take the car, and you have to spend a lot of money to get it out.

“So what people did back then was whenever they got like three tickets on their car, they would remove their licence plates and report it stolen. And then they get a new one. So now they have a fresh start.

“So what happened was that the plate that he had on his car must be one. So to get a new one, you take the old one off, and then you could just put on any other car. But somebody gave him their old plate. And that plate that they gave him, they just reported it stolen in order to get a new one. And then the old one goes into the system as a stolen car,” he shared.

Blackson humorously recounted his confusion during the ordeal, which led to laughter from his companions, despite the seriousness of the situation.

“So they pulled us over with guns and asked us to get out of the car and walk backwards. I was rather walking the wrong way and everybody was laughing. I was scared I was going to get shot. Because if you make the wrong move, they (the police) will shoot you.

“So now we are on the ground and Kevin Hart was laughing because of the way I reacted. But I'm just an African kid. I haven’t been through this before,” he said.

After the police realised it was a case of a stolen plate rather than a stolen car, the group was released but given a court date.

Blackson highlighted the irony of the court date coinciding with his audition in Los Angeles for the movie "Next Friday."

“They later released us when they found out it was a stolen plate. And they gave us a court date. But the funny thing about it was that the day I had to come to court was the day of my audition in LA. And LA is a six-hour flight.

"But the only fortunate thing about it is that LA is 3 hours behind Philadelphia. If I left at 2:00 pm, I'd still get there at 5:00 pm. And my audition was like, 05:30 pm and I couldn't miss this,” he disclosed.

Despite their tight schedule, Blackson and Hart managed to attend court, where the case was dismissed. This allowed Blackson to arrive just in time for his audition.

Blackson's story ended on a positive note, with the comedian going on to star in successful movies and build a comedy career.

Watch the full interview here



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