NORFOLK, Va. — One moment is all it took to flip Aaliyah Phillips' student experience at Norfolk State University upside down.
"I don't know how I went from a traffic stop, to speeding, to what it turned into," she said.
Phillips, a junior political science major at NSU, is raising concerns about an incident with campus police officers this February that led to her being behind bars for several days at Norfolk City Jail.
On the evening hours of Feb. 9, Phillips said she was driving her red Mercury sedan to another parking lot on NSU's campus. But only after circling a parking lot near her campus place of residence, did she notice she was sandwiched between campus police cars both in front and behind her.
When exiting her vehicle following police commands, Phillips said she saw multiple campus police officers with weapons drawn at her, responding to what she believed would be an ordinary traffic or speeding-related stop. Phillips was then arrested and spent between Feb.10 and Feb. 14 at Norfolk City Jail before being released.
"The officer said to me directly, if I complied it would have been a reckless driving ticket, so I was a little confused because I complied. Was told to throw my keys out the window, phone out the window," she said.
Phillips now faces four misdemeanor charges stemming from the stop, including:
- Endanger life or limb (Reckless driving)
- Failure to stop for police attempt to escape or elude
- Resisting arrest obstructing justice without threats or force
- Disorderly conduct
A video sent to Phillips, later shared to 13News Now, recorded from a nearby cellphone shows an officer knocking on the back of her car during the incident. The video also shows Phillips backing up to the arresting officer once she's outside her car and several voices on the video reference that they saw guns from their vantage point.
"I had to find a lawyer and booked a flight."
Phillips' mom, Dareline Jackson, flew in from out of state to help handle the legal fallout from the stop.
"An officer told me, 'She was supposed to have gotten a slap on the hand and released on her own recognizance.' But he also told me, 'Yes, the situation went from zero to 100,'" she said about her contact and initial conversations with the arresting officer's superior.
That same superior told Jackson, according to her, that the situation was "escalated" rather than "de-escalated."
An NSU spokesperson released the following statement to 13News Now:
“Norfolk State University is aware of the incident that occurred on campus between a NSU Police Officer and a student. We are reviewing the details of this incident and there is no further information available at this time.”
Friday, Phillips faced a conduct hearing with Norfolk State, where they asked questions about the incident itself. At the moment, Phillips is still a full-time student with NSU but said there are several possible additional consequences based on what the school investigation finds, ranging from a written essay, disciplinary fines, probation, suspension or expulsion.
Phillips and her mother have retained legal counsel, who tell 13News Now they will move not only to fight to clear the misdemeanors, but plan to move forward with civil lawsuits against Norfolk State University, and campus police.
"I have a mugshot. I was a criminal in the eyes of Virginia," Phillips said.
Phillips has court appearances for all of her misdemeanor charges next March.
“I never would have thought at school, this would be where I'm at right now," she said.