Posted on 05/09/2011 11:18:38 PM PDT by The Magical Mischief Tour
ASHEVILLE — Antonio Hernandez Carranza took a wrong turn, and it turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes he’s ever made. The Carson, Calif., man had driven more than 2,000 miles — three days straight — to see his sister in Johnson City, Tenn.
But instead of reaching the home of his sister, whom he hadn’t seen in nearly a decade, the 45-year-old carpet cleaner found himself in the Buncombe County jail under a $300,000 bond on charges of driving while intoxicated, failing to heed police lights and sirens and possession of 91 pounds of cocaine.
He was released four days later after sheriff’s deputies realized Hernandez, who said he doesn’t drink at all, wasn’t intoxicated and that what was in the back of his truck was exactly what he had said — $400 worth of cheese, shrimp and tortilla and tamale dough meant as a gift to his sister.
Now struggling to reclaim his truck and dog that were taken away, Hernandez said he wants only to see his family and possibly get some compensation for his time and expenses.
While in jail, he called his wife, Bernice, to tell her that he could be facing 40 years in prison and may never see her or their two boys again. “She and the kids were crying. She was inconsolable,” Hernandez said through an interpreter.
Local residents affiliated with Latino advocacy groups say Hernandez, a legal resident who understands a fair amount of English but doesn’t speak it well, was targeted because of his ethnicity.
Deputies said Hernandez appeared drunk and they acted quickly to get narcotics test results after he was jailed.
Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Randy Smart acknowledged that four days in jail under an extremely high bond seemed a stiff penalty for failing to heed police lights and sirens, of which Hernandez was found guilty.
“It’s one of those things when you go back and look at it, it does seem a little harsh,” the Sheriff’s Office spokesman said.
First they said he was drunk, then it turns out he wasn’t, then they said he had 91 pounds of cocaine then it turns out to be exactly what he tried to tell the cops it was, tortilla dough...
Now the taxpayers of Buncombe County will get to pay for their cops stupidity... I’m sure the ACLU will be all over this one as will the Latino groups for racial profiling and general cop stupidity...
This seems out of character for the Asheville police. I wouldn’t be surprised if Asheville were a sanctuary city.
“I’m sure the ACLU will be all over this one as will the Latino groups for racial profiling and general cop stupidity.”
If the ACLU does get involved, this time they’ll be right!
Something tells me we aren’t hearing the entire story.
I know what you means. Why didn’t he stop when the police first signaled him?
Last year law enforcement cost taxpayers over a third of a billion dollars in civil payouts for cases such as this one..
http://www.injusticeeverywhere.com/?p=4053
Maybe he was afraid the cops would do something stupid,,, oh wait...
Very funny, but I know how you feel about the police, MM!
When you don’t stop right away and act nervous, that’s when the police get suspicious.
Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Randy Smart acknowledged that four days in jail under an extremely high bond seemed a stiff penalty for failing to heed police lights and sirens, of which Hernandez was found guilty.
It seems he was severely fatigued which is just as bad as being drunk.
This article is obviously dishonest.
It may be that the police acted wrongly but this article does not honestly describe what happened.
They don’t call it Buncombe for nothing. ;^)
Two comments:
Years ago I had a tenant who left suddenly. He had left a bag of tortilla mix in the apartment, but it turned out not to be tortilla mix...
My eldest son has been stopped many times by the cops, and searched. It’s because he fits their profile for drugs, by make of car, route, and tools that he carries in boxes. It’s getting really frustrating.
I realize the comments are slightly schizophrenic but I can see both sides.
Tortilla poweder? Oh, you mean FLOUR.
I would like to know more about this part. But still, it shoudn't have taken them 4 days to figure out if the guy was drunk or not, and figure out the difference between flour and cocaine.
There was a story a few years ago about a man who was stopped by the cops while transporting the cremated remains of his mother.
The cops were sure that the ashes were really some kind of narcotics, so they kept him in jail while they ran every kind of test they could on them. Finally (I forget how long later) someone did run the test that proved they were just what he said they were.
The most ridiculous part of the story was that when he was finally released and went to pick up his mother’s ashes, they informed him that they (the ashes) had all been destroyed during the various tests.
Sorry about that...
I don’t know if he sued, but he damn sure should have.
“had driven more than 2,000 miles — three days straight”
Sounds like he was driving erratically and unobservantly due to lack of sleep. The cops were right to pull him over and detain him if he was too fatigued to drive safely.
He should have been released in the morning, though. It doesn’t take that long to determine he wasn’t intoxicated and the tortilla flour wasn’t coke.
Heh, beat me to it.
The big question is : Masa Harina or Masa Trigo??? Corn or wheat? I hear that corn stuff is the really addictive 'Tortilla Powder'.
Remind me to dump out my baby powder before I cross the Tennessee State line.. I hear that stuff carries a mandatory Life Sentence with no parole there.
Right, after all, why would anyone act nervous? It's not like the police might do something stupid... oh, wait...
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