Woman wants justice after video shows officers use coin flip app to decide her fate

ROSWELL, Ga. — Body camera video from April appears to show two Roswell police officers using a mobile app to decide whether they should arrest a woman for speeding.

Officer Courtney Brown's body camera video shows that, when she stopped Sarah Webb for speeding past her, she gave Webb a tongue-lashing.

Brown: Stay in the car.

Webb: Sorry, my window doesn't work.

Brown: Officer Brown, Roswell Police Department. Do you know how fast you were just going, ma'am?

Webb: I'm so sorry. I'm late for work.

But when Brown consulted her colleague, she admitted to not having radar.

Officer Kristee Wilson assured Brown there were other ways to cite Webb for speeding.

“I was already having a bad day,” Webb said.

Brown and Wilson are accused of deciding to let a coin flip app on Wilson's phone determine whether Webb would be arrested or cited. Webb eventually ended up behind bars.

“It was very confusing,” Webb said.

Now, several months later, the two officers are on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into the traffic stop.

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"I was appalled," Roswell Police Chief Rusty Grant told Channel 2 Action News.

For the first time, Grant spoke out about the April incident, saying he learned of it two weeks ago from an internal department source.

"I've been a law enforcement professional for almost 40 years and, again, I was appalled to believe that a police officer would let a flip of a coin be the deciding factor in whether to issue someone a citation or, more importantly, take someone into custody," Grant said.

The police chief said he has concern for other police departments as the incident gets national attention.

"The reality is someone will see this story in the state of Washington, and this weekend, someone is going to get stopped by a Washington state police officer and someone's going to make a comment about, 'Hey, did you flip a coin to decide whether or not I get a citation?'" Grant said.

Charges against Webb were dropped in municipal court this week.

“I was angry. I was sad. I was upset,” Webb said of her feelings when she found out what happened. "This really was all over nothing. It was a game."

Now, Webb wants the officers to be punished.

“I want to see justice come to those two officers because it’s not fair. Other people’s freedom, other people’s lives are not a game, and these are the people we’re supposed to be trusting,” Webb said.

While the officers' professional records appear to be clean, the investigation will include a probe into whether they've ever handled another scene in this way before.

Roswell's mayor, Lori Henry, released a statement about the incident on her Facebook:

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