10 Black Students Falsely Accused of Leaving IHOP Without Paying

Ten black Washington University students were stopped by police near St. Louis and falsely accused of dining and dashing at an IHOP before being escorted back to the restaurant by six squad cars, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. University officials have reportedly complained to the Clayton Police Department about the incident, which is now the subject of an internal police review. The students—all of them incoming freshmen—were reportedly forced to walk back to the IHOP despite some of them having receipts to prove they paid for their meals. They were let go only after the manager told officers they had in fact paid. University officials have demanded that the police department apologize to the students. “The fact that these 10 students, all of whom are African-American, were scared and humiliated is unacceptable to us,” the university said in a statement Monday. The students “did not really appear to fit the description of the suspects other than being black,” Rob Wild, associate vice chancellor for student transition and engagement, wrote in an email about the incident.