"The part in bold may be one of the dumber things I've ever seen posted here."
Hardly, I ended up in Allston, MA (Boston) jail for 12+ hours on a case of looking vaguely (very tall, big, beard) like the guy who robbed a taxi.
I'm a large guy (almost 300lbs, very tall and solid), but I am also a Jewish guy, and being the guy with the kippa (which they took and threw away) in a Boston jail overnight was not a fun deal.
I suppose this has happened to you over and over because "it's very easy" for that to happen? I doubt it.
nd being the guy with the kippa
Wasnt' that against your constitutional rights to throw away your head covering? I hope you were alright, but I know that was scary. I would not survive an hour in prison.
I had a similar experience years ago in Chicago. Six plainclothes police officers burst into my motel room in the middle of the night, me naked out of bed, handcuffed me and took me to jail.
Turned out that I looked like an escaped murderer from Minnesota who the police thought had headed for Chicago. The desk clerk had called the police and reported the murderer was in his motel. Unfortunately I had left my ID in my car and they wouldn't let me get it to prove who I was.
I was released after 3 hours (thank goodness with my virginity intact), but it was a very scary situation. What really terrified me is that I didn't believe they were police at first. They were all Italian looking and wearing dark suits. I thought it was a Mafia hit gone wrong. After it was all over, I got no apology from the police, and no apology from the motel.
They didn't even refund my night's lodging.