Detroit police investigate officers' profane confrontation of dancing man

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FOX 2 recently reported a profanity-laced confrontation between Detroit police and a local street performer.  

On Wednesday supporters of the street dancer - and some opponents took to the streets in protest. 

As the car horns blared, it was just Darius Stallworth dressed in a yellow jacket-- dancing on the corner of Kelly and Moross to his own music on a speaker.

He's danced for years but it seems some people don't like his dancing.  The police have had six calls since Christmas.  

"It's loud and it's aggressive," said resident Sandra Turner Handy.

"The complaints were about the vulgarity," said another resident, Russ. "It is very degrading, obscene comments about women."

Others say it's just dancing. 

"He is dancing, he is performing art," said Theodore Dawson. "That is what he does. It is an art form."

But earlier this week, a couple of Detroit police officers didn't think so. The profane encounter was caught on camera.

FOX 2 had to "bleep" certain words and it was those words that got these cops disciplined.

"It is called progressive discipline," said Deputy Chief Elvin Barren, Detroit police. " We will look at both of their discipline histories and we will determine what the penalty will be."

But there appears to be more to the story.  

"At times he will impede traffic by going out to the middle of the street doing push-ups," said Barren. "He uses the loudspeaker to sing and at time he will use foul language."

The department did not issue Darius a ticket. Darius says he just likes to dance and have people like him, 

And he liked the people who came out to support him on Wednesday.  

"It's a good feeling to know you got people by your side, I'm not alone," he said.

Officers do have some discretion; they could have issued Stallworth a ticket for impeding traffic or causing danger.

"I would tell Darius it's okay to do your dancing but he has to do it in a respectful and safe manner," Barren said.