Producer In Beverly Hills For Emmy Pre-Party Mistaken For Bank Robber, Held 6 Hours

Charles Belk Wrongly Held As Bank Robbery Suspect (Image Credit: KTLA5/Inset Image:66th Emmy Organisers)

A film producer who was in Beverly Hills to attend a pre-Emmy party Friday night was handcuffed and detained for about six hours before authorities investigating a nearby bank robbery realized they had the wrong man, according to KTLA5.

Charles Belk, who was handcuffed after mistakenly being taken for a bank robber, is seen in this photo posted to Facebook.

Charles Belk stated on Facebook that he left a restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard and was walking alone to his car parked on La Cienega Boulevard at about 5:20 p.m. to check the parking meter when he was suddenly surrounded by police and told to sit on the curb.

A picture posted with the statement on Facebook showed Belk, who is credited as a producer and actor on his IMDb page, in handcuffs as he sat on the sidewalk with two officers nearby.

“I get that the Beverly Hills Police Department didn’t know that I was a well-educated American citizen that had received a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California, an MBA from Indiana University … and an executive leadership certificate from Harvard Business School,” Belk’s statement read. “Hey, I was ‘tall,’ ‘bald,’ a ‘male’ and ‘black,’ so I fit the description.”

Belk’s Facebook comments, posted Saturday on his personal page, were shared nearly 30,000 times by Tuesday.

Police were investigating an armed bank robbery that had just occurred and arrested Belk because he “matched the physical characteristics of the second suspect and was in the area of the bank shortly after the robbery,” the Beverly Hills Police Department stated in a news release on Monday.

Police in Beverly Hills said Belk’s detention was regrettable but was a necessary part of their investigation.

“The Beverly Hills Police Department regrets the inconvenience to Mr. Belk, but was under obligation to thoroughly verify that he was not the suspect before releasing him,” the police statement read.

Police did arrest one other person in Friday’s incident, identified as Brianna Kloutse, 47, who is suspected in 11 recent bank robberies in the Los Angeles area, according to police. The second robber — who Belk was mistaken for — remains at large, the Police Department stated.