This happened about 3 years ago but I thought that civilians and cops both might learn a lesson from it. Its kind of long but the detail are important. It shows how to handle things when the LEO is bad.
I bought my son a new Mustang GT in the summer of 2007 as a graduation present and a college car. It has a body kit on it and is very aggressive looking. He was stopped 3 times and not ticketed in the first 2 months and not ticketed any time and the first two times he was not told the reason he was stopped. We live in a small suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth. The 2nd time he was stopped he was stopped about two houses from my home. The officer that stopped him finally said he could leave. The K9 officer had just arrived on scene and was in the process of shining his flash light into my son's girlfriend's eyes and looking into the car. My son got into the car and drove off [the first officer told him he could leave] leaving the K9 officer standing there with his flash light in hand.
I "think" that pissed the K9 officer off a little.
I have two videos from the police cars on the following.
About two weeks later my son drives passed the police station and stops at the next red light. His front left tire was on the white painted cross walk stripe. The Camery next to him was completely across the crosswalk. There are no pedestrians around. The K9 officer pulls behind him and turns on his lights. My son pulls over. The officer calls TWO more police cars to the scene. A second policeman stands with my son and his male friend while the K9 officer has his dog circle the car sniffing for drugs. My son and his friend are very respectful during the stop and say yes sir no sir etc. My son called me and told me he was getting stopped and I told him to leave the speaker phone on and I listened to the stop.
The officer ran his dog around the car three times and the dog did nothing. The officer then placed himself on the drivers side of the car between the police car camera and the dog and out of view of my son on the opposite side of the car. Then he "says" the dog got a scent of drugs and began to search the car.
My son had been at a party the previous night and was returning to its owner a Hooka [no not a bong] that they had smoked tobacco in the night before. The Hooka was in the trunk. The Hooka was in a box complete with packs of Hooka tobacco. The K9 officer came over to my son that was peaceably standing with the 2nd officer and said he had found a bong in my son's car. My son said "No sir that is a Hooka used for tobacco. The officer screams at my son to hang up the phone my son says "Dad i think I'm getting arrested" and hung up the phone. The officer read my son his rights and handcuffed him. He placed him in the police car and turned the AC off on the hot summer evening with the windows rolled up.
My wife and I went to the scene. The guys boss was standing with my son's friend. The 3rd officer takes over with the friend and the 2nd officer a lieutenant and the K9 officers supervisor comes over to talk to my wife and I. He told us they had found a Bong in my son's car. I was shocked because I knew my son was anti-drugs and had abandoned old friends when they started using drugs. I watched as the officer examined the Hooka box and Hooka. I told the Lieutenant it wasn't a bong but rather a legal hooka.
I'm an ER doc and my wife is the Court reporter of the Chief Justice of the Northern District of Texas for over 25 years. They same district any civil rights violation complaint against the officer would be filed in. My wife's judge has known my son his entire life.
Anyway we both told them we did not believe our son used drugs. The K9 officer came over I talked with him and said it was a Hooka and asked if he tested it for residue. He said no. He tested it and it was negative. He then said he saw "Shakes" in the driver side rear floor board. He went and "tested" them. [This was a 2 month old car and no one had ever ridden in the back seat of the car.] He came back from testing the "shakes" and started talking with the lieutenant and my wife and I and didn't mention the results. About 3-4 minutes later I asked him what he found . His eyes darted to the ground and he said they were positive and probably came from the pocket of one of my son's friends.
The lieutenant and the K9 office went out of hearing range to talk. From the video's audio track: K9 officer "here is the thing....here is the thing" Lieutenant: Microphones! "Click" the audio goes dead. They come back with microphones turned on and tell us the MJ found was not enough to prosecute and they let my son go advising us to vacume his car out good.
We left as soon as possible.
I bought my son a new Mustang GT in the summer of 2007 as a graduation present and a college car. It has a body kit on it and is very aggressive looking. He was stopped 3 times and not ticketed in the first 2 months and not ticketed any time and the first two times he was not told the reason he was stopped. We live in a small suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth. The 2nd time he was stopped he was stopped about two houses from my home. The officer that stopped him finally said he could leave. The K9 officer had just arrived on scene and was in the process of shining his flash light into my son's girlfriend's eyes and looking into the car. My son got into the car and drove off [the first officer told him he could leave] leaving the K9 officer standing there with his flash light in hand.
I "think" that pissed the K9 officer off a little.
I have two videos from the police cars on the following.
About two weeks later my son drives passed the police station and stops at the next red light. His front left tire was on the white painted cross walk stripe. The Camery next to him was completely across the crosswalk. There are no pedestrians around. The K9 officer pulls behind him and turns on his lights. My son pulls over. The officer calls TWO more police cars to the scene. A second policeman stands with my son and his male friend while the K9 officer has his dog circle the car sniffing for drugs. My son and his friend are very respectful during the stop and say yes sir no sir etc. My son called me and told me he was getting stopped and I told him to leave the speaker phone on and I listened to the stop.
The officer ran his dog around the car three times and the dog did nothing. The officer then placed himself on the drivers side of the car between the police car camera and the dog and out of view of my son on the opposite side of the car. Then he "says" the dog got a scent of drugs and began to search the car.
My son had been at a party the previous night and was returning to its owner a Hooka [no not a bong] that they had smoked tobacco in the night before. The Hooka was in the trunk. The Hooka was in a box complete with packs of Hooka tobacco. The K9 officer came over to my son that was peaceably standing with the 2nd officer and said he had found a bong in my son's car. My son said "No sir that is a Hooka used for tobacco. The officer screams at my son to hang up the phone my son says "Dad i think I'm getting arrested" and hung up the phone. The officer read my son his rights and handcuffed him. He placed him in the police car and turned the AC off on the hot summer evening with the windows rolled up.
My wife and I went to the scene. The guys boss was standing with my son's friend. The 3rd officer takes over with the friend and the 2nd officer a lieutenant and the K9 officers supervisor comes over to talk to my wife and I. He told us they had found a Bong in my son's car. I was shocked because I knew my son was anti-drugs and had abandoned old friends when they started using drugs. I watched as the officer examined the Hooka box and Hooka. I told the Lieutenant it wasn't a bong but rather a legal hooka.
I'm an ER doc and my wife is the Court reporter of the Chief Justice of the Northern District of Texas for over 25 years. They same district any civil rights violation complaint against the officer would be filed in. My wife's judge has known my son his entire life.
Anyway we both told them we did not believe our son used drugs. The K9 officer came over I talked with him and said it was a Hooka and asked if he tested it for residue. He said no. He tested it and it was negative. He then said he saw "Shakes" in the driver side rear floor board. He went and "tested" them. [This was a 2 month old car and no one had ever ridden in the back seat of the car.] He came back from testing the "shakes" and started talking with the lieutenant and my wife and I and didn't mention the results. About 3-4 minutes later I asked him what he found . His eyes darted to the ground and he said they were positive and probably came from the pocket of one of my son's friends.
The lieutenant and the K9 office went out of hearing range to talk. From the video's audio track: K9 officer "here is the thing....here is the thing" Lieutenant: Microphones! "Click" the audio goes dead. They come back with microphones turned on and tell us the MJ found was not enough to prosecute and they let my son go advising us to vacume his car out good.
We left as soon as possible.
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