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Innocent man arrested, jailed 10 days for having same name as drug dealer
Police State USA ^ | June 4, 2014 | Site Staff

Posted on 06/05/2014 7:42:23 AM PDT by Altariel

CHESTERTON, IN — An innocent man was arrested in an early morning raid and jailed for 10 days because he had the same first and last name as a drug suspect.  The ordeal caused him to lose his job, rack up bills, and nearly get evicted from his home.

Steven M. Thompson, a service technician at Arcelor-Mittal Steel, received an “early morning visit” from the Porter County Drug Task Force (PCDTF) on on May 5th.  He was taken from his teenage daughter in handcuffs.

Mr. Thompson had done nothing wrong.  He assumed the misunderstanding would be easily cleared up once in police custody.  Except it didn’t work out that way.

Despite collecting no evidence at Thompson’s home, he was charged with two Class B felonies for dealing pills and heroin.  Each felony carries a 6-20 year prison sentence.

Accused of being a drug dealer, he was locked up in the Porter County Jail.  Except he isn’t actually a drug dealer.

Days went by and he was not being released.  With such difficulty in correcting the error, he began to think that going to prison might be a real possibility.

Finally, on the 10th day of confinement, he was able to prove his innocence with the help of attorney Bob Harper.

Although Thompson’s identity matched matched the signed warrant — down to the date of birth and middle initial — the data on the warrant had been incorrectly obtained.  The intended suspect was Steven P. Thompson, who is three years younger and the same race, the Northwest Indiana Gazette confirmed.

Mr. Thompson’s false arrest caused him to rack up bills, face threats of eviction from his home, and lose his job after 6 years of employment.

Porter County Prosecutor Brian Gensel oversees the Porter County Drug Task Force (PCDTF), and dropped charges after it was evident that the wrong man had been arrested.

* * * * *

This case clearly illustrates the point that anyone — innocent or guilty — can be the target of government’s eager efforts to imprison Americans; the police state is not only felt by criminals.  Those who turn a blind eye toward overzealous policing fail to recognize how easy it is to be subjected to a false accusation, a wrongful arrest, or a downright corrupt prosecution effort.

Mr. Thompson is “lucky” in the sense that the ordeal didn’t go further than it did.  However, he still was fired from his job, lost 10 days of his life, lost his good name, and suffered numerous personal inconveniences.  And this represents just one of countless botched arrests and injustices that have been caused by the War on Drugs.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: donutwatch; falsearrest; steventhompson; wod
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To: driftdiver

Guilty until proven innocent. I remember as a kid being taught that “innocent until proven guilty” was another reason to be proud of this country, but just like everything else, that is no longer the case.


41 posted on 06/05/2014 10:11:37 AM PDT by Rusty0604
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To: Altariel
"And this represents just one of countless botched arrests and injustices that have been caused by the War on Drugs."

This line fried me! How about not hiring retards to work in Government? 10 days to figure out they had the wrong guy? Really? What about the retards kicking in the wrong door because they can't read the numbers on the house. Or shooting a dog on the inside of house when answering a burglar alarm. Look in the window, the dog is NOT barking. SO duh! No one is in the house. But by all means lets kick the door down and kill a dog or person who is trying to defend their property.

Rant off.

42 posted on 06/05/2014 10:20:38 AM PDT by defconw (Well now what?)
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To: defconw

Not accidental or a consequence of stupidity.

So long as people brush it off as idiocy, the problem won’t be resolved.

Why do they shoot dogs?

They get away with it.

Entering an innocent man’s house?

They get away with it.

Throwing a man in jail without making sure they had the right man?

They get away with it.


43 posted on 06/05/2014 11:17:56 AM PDT by Altariel ("Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!")
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To: driftdiver

Just-us system.


44 posted on 06/05/2014 11:19:14 AM PDT by Altariel ("Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!")
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To: Altariel

How do we get them to stop? I am at a loss.


45 posted on 06/05/2014 11:19:35 AM PDT by defconw (LUTFA!)
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To: defconw

Get rid of qualified immunity. Make each and every officer personally liable, for starters.

Other solutions likely also come to mind.


46 posted on 06/05/2014 11:22:26 AM PDT by Altariel ("Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!")
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To: Altariel

Which means we have to get rid of the lawyers!


47 posted on 06/05/2014 11:24:49 AM PDT by defconw (LUTFA!)
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To: defconw; Altariel

Not lawyers - first you need to get rid of STATISTS who wrote and passed these Liberty eroding no-knock and SWAT raid drug search laws.

Then once you’ve run them out and repealed all the old guard statist drug search laws, enact new laws governing searches that make police individually + criminally liable for negligence, and make them fiscally accountable to their employer (ie: Joe Taxpayer) when they cost him millions in their latest lawsuit for killing Spot and causing 1st degree burns to your toddler.

In other words, elect Libertarians, or Extremely Liberty Minded Republicans. Heck, there’s even a few Democrats have had enough of this mess to act on it...


48 posted on 06/05/2014 11:39:01 AM PDT by bamahead (Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master. -- Sallust)
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To: Altariel
CHESTERTON, IN — An innocent man was arrested in an early morning raid and jailed for 10 days because he had the same first and last name as a drug suspect. The ordeal caused him to lose his job, rack up bills, and nearly get evicted from his home.

Sounds like he needs to end up owning him a police department of his very own.

49 posted on 06/05/2014 11:42:59 AM PDT by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: Kartographer

Bingo.


50 posted on 06/05/2014 12:15:35 PM PDT by Altariel ("Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!")
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To: bamahead

This could happen to any of us. When I moved to this area, there was a woman with my exact same name who was a professional bad-check writer.

I received a LOT of unnerving, threatening phone calls from bill collectors, thinking I was her!

Luckily, that’s as far as it went, and I filed something with the state to protect me.

Then, I married and changed my name. Problem solved. Well, in all honesty, that resulted in a whole ‘NOTHER set of problems, LOL! *SMIRK*


51 posted on 06/05/2014 2:34:49 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set...)
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To: mabarker1
sue their collective azzes off!!! lucky he didn't have a dog or get shot himself...
52 posted on 06/05/2014 3:35:27 PM PDT by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -vvv- NO Pity for the LAZY - 86-44)
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To: Morgana
the ignorance and arrogance of today's cops knows no bounds
53 posted on 06/05/2014 3:36:43 PM PDT by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -vvv- NO Pity for the LAZY - 86-44)
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To: Chode

Yep, He was very lucky.

Ranks up the ladder of stupid like the GA swat team tossing the flash bang in to a Baby crib and then saying they plan to charge the guy they were looking for with child endangerment.

And they guy wasn’t even there during the raid...

I’ve been denied several jobs because of a NSF check ($52.50) charge that was dropped to a Misdemeanor (traffic ticket) and supposed to be scrubbed from My record.


54 posted on 06/05/2014 3:52:12 PM PDT by mabarker1 (Please, Somebody Impeach the kenyan!!!! Once again dingy hairball, STFU!!! You corrupt POS!!!)
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To: mabarker1


55 posted on 06/05/2014 4:10:01 PM PDT by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -vvv- NO Pity for the LAZY - 86-44)
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To: mabarker1


56 posted on 06/05/2014 4:11:59 PM PDT by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -vvv- NO Pity for the LAZY - 86-44)
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To: Altariel
Although Thompson’s identity matched the signed warrant — down to the date of birth and middle initial — the data on the warrant had been incorrectly obtained. The intended suspect was Steven P. Thompson, who is three years younger and the same race...

They doctored the warrant data.

57 posted on 06/05/2014 5:25:54 PM PDT by Half Vast Conspiracy (Settled science.)
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To: Half Vast Conspiracy

Yep.

Fill-in-the-blank warrant.


58 posted on 06/05/2014 5:28:44 PM PDT by jjotto ("Ya could look it up!")
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To: cripplecreek

Thank you for not having any kids.


59 posted on 06/05/2014 5:30:40 PM PDT by Half Vast Conspiracy (Settled science.)
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To: Half Vast Conspiracy

If I did they wouldn’t be group thinking morons following every pied piper troll telling them what they want to hear.


60 posted on 06/05/2014 5:38:11 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Remember the River Raisin.)
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