“...woman said she had seen a man “wedging his shoulder into the front door as to pry the door open.”
A little common sense here, if his neighbors didn’t know who he was, how would a policeman? If the caller was simply driving by, and Prof. Gates was in casual or running/jogging attire, how would she know? All the officer had to say is, “Can I help you, sir?” That would make an ordinary criminal bolt. Sounds like both parties get their exercise jumping to conclusions...case dismissed.
Sounds like the neighbor was trying to do the man a favor by calling the cops when she thought someone was trying to break into his house.
If I was the neighbor, I’d approach him and say, “Due to the disrespectful way you treated the police, if I ever see someone trying to break into your house again, I will NOT call the cops. Hope you aren’t home when that happens, turdbrain.”