FLINT – Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said his office has charged two individuals with False Report of a Felony related to a complaint they made accusing a Burton police officer of stealing money from one of them during a traffic stop.
Camren Janeel Bell, 23, and Zakara Angelique Jackson, 24, both of Flint, are charged with False Report of a Felony after filing formal complaints with the City of Burton Police Department alleging a Burton police officer stole $120 from Bell during a routine traffic stop in the city of Burton.
According to the investigative reports, Bell was driving Jackson’s car the morning of February 20, 2025 in the City of Burton when a Burton police officer pulled him over for speeding. During the traffic stop, it was determined that the vehicle’s registration was expired, it had no insurance, the windows had an illegal dark tint, and Bell was driving with a suspended license.
Video and audio from the officer’s body worn camera showed the officer asking Bell to exit the vehicle, and he was then handcuffed for the misdemeanor driving without a valid license, patted down and placed in the back of the officer’s patrol vehicle while the officer ran his name and wrote up a ticket for the various vehicle violations.
The body worn camera recordings then showed the officer let Bell out of the patrol vehicle, unhandcuffed him and explained that the vehicle violations would go against him since he was driving even though the vehicle was registered to Jackson. The officer told Bell he would work with him at court on the speeding ticket if Bell would work with Jackson on getting her vehicle in compliance with regards to registration, insurance and the tinted windows. The officer also indicated he would not pursue the misdemeanor
charge of driving without a valid license.
The officer also told Jackson that she would have to swap seats with Bell and be the driver from that point since she had a valid license and Bell did not.
About a half hour later, Burton Police were alerted that a message had been posted on Facebook by Zakara Jackson that she and her cousin had just been pulled over by a Burton police officer for speeding and because the tint on her car windows was too dark. In the Facebook post, Jackson claimed the officer pulled her cousin out of her car and took $120 out of his pocket and the officer said that the money was in lieu of taking him to jail. Jackson also posted the name of the officer and his badge number.
Within that first half hour, Jackson’s Facebook post was shared more than 200 times and garnered more than 100 comments, with many of them being threats against the officer. Some even pulled the officer’s photo from online and posted his face in the comments. As the day went on, Jackson’s post continued to be shared more and more and the number of comments continued to increase with many comments being violent in nature and urging Jackson to file a complaint with the police.
Jackson also posted more saying that the officer needed to be charged with armed robbery and fired.
Immediately upon hearing of the accusations being posted on Facebook, Burton Police Chief Brian Ross called the officer into his office as part of an investigation into the claims. The officer denied the allegations. The officer’s body worn camera recordings of the incident were then downloaded as part of the internal investigation into the officer’s conduct.
A short time later the same day, Jackson called the Burton police department and said she wanted to file a complaint against an officer accusing him of being rude and stealing $120 from her cousin during a traffic stop.
Chief Ross arranged for Jackson and Bell to come to the Burton Police Department to discuss their allegations. When they arrived that afternoon, both Jackson and Bell were given official Citizen Complaint forms to explain their accusations.
Before filling them out, each were provided with this warning:
“I hereby acknowledge that I have read and/or been advised of the following part of ordinance 67C section 10-10 (False reports to police) and recognize that I may be prosecuted for knowingly giving false information to police in this matter. It shall be unlawful for any person to give any information, knowing it to be false, to any member of the police of the City while in performance of his/her official duties.”
Both Jackson and Bell stated that they understood the warning, signed their names and completed the Citizen Complaint form in which they both claimed the officer stole $120 from Bell before letting them go.
After the forms were completed and signed, the police chief and other command officers informed them that hundreds of comments on Jackson’s Facebook page were putting the officer in harm’s way with the threatening messages.
The police then showed Jackson and Bell the recordings from the body worn camera which do not show the
officer taking any money from Bell. In the video, the officer handcuffs and pats down Bell next to the open driver’s side door in full view of Jackson who is observed in the video watching from the passenger seat.
The body worn camera recordings also contradict the complaints from Bell and Jackson that the officer seemed very angry from the start and rude toward them. Investigators concluded the video recordings showed the officer to be very composed and polite toward both of them the entire time.
After completing their investigation, the Burton police presented their findings to the Prosecutor’s Office and the criminal charges were authorized. Filing a false report of a felony to the police is itself a felony punishable by up to four years in prison.
Bell and Jackson will be arraigned in 67th District Court.
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