ILLEGAL DETENTION? (ANY LAWYERS)

[bogey1]

HERES THE STORY. my helper was driving home yesterday from the store and all of a sudden he sees blue and red lights behind him. he pulls over, the cop walks up to his window and says, what the heck do you think you're doing, (helper) what did i do officer? (cop) do you think you're allowed to drink and drive? (helper) oh its not beer its root beer, you can taste it if you want. so the cop takes the bottle of root beer and smells it, dumps it out and says, ok get out of the car. my helper gets out of his car, the cop frisks him and then slaps the cuffs on him and sits him on the curb. (helper) says, is this really necessary? (cop) yes it is. so, the cop says im searching your car, (helper had no time to respond before the cop was in his car) the cop went through every article of clothing, tackle box, sleeping bag, everything in his trunk and inside the car. after rummaging through everything, he uncuffs him and tells him, next time you want to drink soda and drive, drink out of a can is this cop for real? and he never ran his license or checked if he had insurance. my question is, was this legal? i dont think it was but what do i know thats why im here, hopefully a lawyer will chime in. p.s. sorry for not breaking up the story into small paragraphs. i dont know how to do it. bogey

[fingers80002]

CALL A LAWYER!!!!!

[ScaredOnce]

is this cop for real?

I really hope not.

my question is, was this legal?

With only the info you presented to us here... I'm going to say no. IANAL, but sounds like Mr. Policeman wasn't doing your helper a good public service.

[GoldWinger]

What was he drinking out of?

[uniballin]

What was he drinking out of?

Many types of root beer come in brown bottles that can mistakenly be confused with a beer bottle at first glance.

[HiredGoon]

HERES THE STORY. my helper was driving home yesterday from the store and all of a sudden he sees blue and red lights behind him. he pulls over,

the cop walks up to his window and says, what the heck do you think you're doing,
(helper) what did i do officer? (cop) do you think you're allowed to drink and drive?

(helper) oh its not beer its root beer, you can taste it if you want. so the cop takes the bottle of root beer and smells it, dumps it out and says, ok get out of the car. my helper gets out of his car, the cop frisks him and then slaps the cuffs on him and sits him on the curb.

(helper) says, is this really necessary? (cop) yes it is.

so, the cop says im searching your car, (helper had no time to respond before the cop was in his car) the cop went through every article of clothing, tackle box, sleeping bag, everything in his trunk and inside the car.

after rummaging through everything, he uncuffs him and tells him, next time you want to drink soda and drive, drink out of a can

is this cop for real? and he never ran his license or checked if he had insurance. my question is, was this legal? i dont think it was but what do i know thats why im here, hopefully a lawyer will chime in.

p.s. sorry for not breaking up the story into small paragraphs. i dont know how to do it. bogey

If it happened as described... WOW! What police dept. was this???

Yeah, tell him to lawyer up ASAP!

And have him write down all he remembers about the incident now, before he might forget something.

[chrisjames_71]

HERES THE STORY. my helper was driving home yesterday from the store and all of a sudden he sees blue and red lights behind him. he pulls over, the cop walks up to his window and says, what the heck do you think you're doing, (helper) what did i do officer? (cop) do you think you're allowed to drink and drive? (helper) oh its not beer its root beer, you can taste it if you want. so the cop takes the bottle of root beer and smells it, dumps it out and says, ok get out of the car. my helper gets out of his car, the cop frisks him and then slaps the cuffs on him and sits him on the curb. (helper) says, is this really necessary? (cop) yes it is. so, the cop says im searching your car, (helper had no time to respond before the cop was in his car) the cop went through every article of clothing, tackle box, sleeping bag, everything in his trunk and inside the car. after rummaging through everything, he uncuffs him and tells him, next time you want to drink soda and drive, drink out of a can is this cop for real? and he never ran his license or checked if he had insurance. my question is, was this legal? i dont think it was but what do i know thats why im here, hopefully a lawyer will chime in. p.s. sorry for not breaking up the story into small paragraphs. i dont know how to do it. bogey

First let me just say this: I am a police officer now having said this I will follow it up with this:

YOUR HELPER NEEDS TO GET A FRIKIN LAWYER RIGHT NOW!!! This guy has no business wearing a badge. Stories like this make me sick and make us all look bad.

From the way you tell it, no law was broken and there was no reason for the stop, the cuffing, or the searching. hopefully he got the cops name or badge number.

[soberbyker]

IANAL but I'd imagine once the cop smelled no booze it should have been over, everything after that would require more RAS, not that seeing the guy drink from a bottle was in the first place.

What town was this in? Just curious, sounds like UD or Haverford to me.

.

[Pector55]

Please tell me you left out the part about the badly bruised and screaming underaged Asian hooker. Otherwise, that's BS!

[granuale]

hey bogey, I just looked up Westbrook Park and saw you're down the street. Where did this happen, and what department did the police thug work for?

sober, my money is on Upper Darby or Clifton Heights.

Oh, I should add that IAAL, and based on the facts presented it seems like clear violation.