My friend's brother Steve was involved in an incident at an Arizona border patrol stop on Tuesday. Apparently this stop is wholey within Arizona, not at a border at all, but routinely stops cars and searches their contents. I don't know the whole history, but at some point Steve decided that he would no longer consent to warrantless searches.
He refuses to let the officers search his vehicle and insists that they have neither probably cause nor a search warrant. The officers in that incident never really made it clear what it was that made them suspect he was doing something illegal. I think they just pull aside a certain number of cars for a closer look. After about 30 minutes of constitutional chatter, they let him continue on his way.
On Tuesday, April 14, he was stopped at a similar non-border border stop, refused to allow his vehicle to be searched. A magical dog was brought out and the agents stated that the dog had indicated drugs or a person inside the car. Steve didn't accept that the dog had established probable cause because he knew there were neither drugs nor a body in the car. He felt the officers were lying about the dog and asked them for a repeat performance. They refused. Highway patrol arrived after about an hour and they assisted in breaking Steve's windows, tasering him, grinding his face against the broken window glass and arresting him. He went to the hospital and spent the night in jail. His description of what happened: Baptist pastor beaten + tazed by Border patrol - 11 stitches
"Ah good. Now I'm on the internet clearly saying I like tranny cleavage. This shouldn't get me harassed at all." -- Lothar of the Hill People
Your friend is a stupid fuck. Let the cops search the car and then file a complaint/law suit after the fact. Unless he's actually got something illegal in the car, all it is is an inconvenience. One that would have taken less time than him arguing with the cops on the side of the road. It's now the cops' word against his. They say that the dog indicated something in the car, whether true or not, it's their probably cause and word against him. His resistance is just something else they can tell a judge that made them suspicious. Don't ever fuck with the cops.
I've let cops search my car when they had no real reason to because I knew there wasn't anything that they could find that was illegal. Guess what. Because I didn't fuck with them, was nice and polite with 'Yes, sir, officer.', 'Whatever you want, officer.', I was let go without so much as a warning or even a stern talking to when I was a good candidate for a DUI.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
He's still a stupid fuck. Don't piss off the cops. Especially in Arizona. The desert is a hard place to find a body.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
I'm not arguing there. I woulda cooperated myself, granted I had nothin' to hide. That said, the bit with the dog is sorta... weird. But breaking out the rear driver window and front passenger, then tazering the guy as he has his head covered is a bit excessive, don't you think?
"Ah good. Now I'm on the internet clearly saying I like tranny cleavage. This shouldn't get me harassed at all." -- Lothar of the Hill People
