Reynolds, a university student, had just returned home, as he had a break in between classes. With extra time to spare, he made the decision to give his dog a bath, stripping down to his underwear and throwing on some latex gloves "because washing my dog gets messy," he said in a Facebook post.
Reynolds was in the middle of bathtime when officers interrupted him and demanded that he step out of his home. "All of a sudden, I hear loud banging on my door. I ask who it is and get no answer, so I open my door and there are Topeka Police Department officers with AR-15 drawn and aimed at me, tell me to come outside," he wrote.
After denying their request, Reynolds slammed his door shut, which subsequently led to the group of officers breaking his door down, throwing him on the floor and placing him in handcuffs while they searched his home. It's unclear what happened with Reynolds' dog during the encounter.
Once released from the restraints, Reynolds pulled out his phone and began filming the incident, demanding an explanation as to why officers reacted in such a manner.
"I've done time; I'm well versed in this. You have no right. I don't care who calls you, you have no right to bust my door down without a warrant, even if I did have an AK-47 in here," Reynolds tells the officers. "I am fully within my rights to have an AK-47 as long as it's not an automatic firing weapon. End of story."
Although an officer was quick to say that they didn't require a warrant because of "exigent circumstances," Reynolds struck down the argument by noting that law enforcement officials require a "full description" in order to cite such a reasoning.
"Exigent circumstances requires what? A full description. All you guys had was a ‘Hispanic male'… exigent circumstances requires a full description," Reynolds said. "This is my house. I live here. Y'all just busted my door in and drew AR-15s on me for doing nothing more than washing my f**king dog."
"Had this had gone anyway differently, I'd be laying dead in my own apartment for no f**king reason, and don't nobody care. Don't nobody give a f**k," Reynolds yells at the officers, before demanding they leave.
The Topeka department issued a statement on Facebook later Wednesday regarding the incident, explaining officers were called to the apartment after receiving a call about a domestic dispute in which a man was armed with a rifle and making threats toward a woman. The department added that they broke through Reynolds' door because they feared for the alleged woman's safety.
On Thursday, police released audio of communications between Topeka officers and the 911 dispatcher. The recordings revealed that the Hispanic man in question was wearing a "black bandana around his face" and was spotted on the second floor of the building. The person who alerted police was found to be the sister of the woman who was allegedly being targeted by the suspect.
Reynolds announced on Facebook that he is considering legal action over the incident. In a later post he indicated that "it comes down to simply wanting to be safe in my own home."
"I was washing my dog, in between classes. Are you telling me [I'm] no longer safe to do that in my own home? I should just bow down and obey to every badge that comes to my door waving an AR-15? Is this the world we live in? I need answers. And I'm not going away until I get them," he added.
This incident comes days after Botham Jean, a 26-year-old businessman, was shot dead by an officer from Texas' Dallas Police Department after she mistook his apartment for her own.
