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.
The war on drugs has morphed into the war on tacos. The first lady would be pleased.
Story in the Asheville Citizen Times (which we cannot post from) indicates the police are saying they did nothing wrong. But, knowing the mindset over there, I’ll predict it ain’t over.
If they are smart, they will go ahead and compensate him for his loss and hope and pray he does not lawyer up.
Masa is a hell of a drug.
Was he headed to the White House. After all, Mexican food is moochie’s favorite.
Cops should be made to pay for their mistakes, not taxpayers.
Soldiers are responsible for their actions when they are criminal, why shouldn’t police be responsible when they are not only criminal but civil as well?
It could depend on what he was driving. My car (Chrysler 300C) is so sound proof sirens can’t be heard. Unless it’s raining I keep the driver’s window open an inch. Some modern pickup trucks are just as quiet.
What DID happen?
Tennessee badges and they DIDN’T shoot the dog?
Unbelievable.
Asheville is NOT in Tennessee last time I checked.
Indeed it is not. Sorry, I read Johnson City, Tenn and skimmed the rest.
That could very well explain why the dog survived the traffic stop.
Here is another article with much more detail and an embedded video:
http://www.foxcarolina.com/news/27834521/detail.html
As I expected the story makes a lot more sense once the pertinent facts are included. The article posted to start this thread is, as I said, deliberately dishonest and intended to inaccurately portray the actions of the officers.
"Antonio Hernandez Carranza was arrested on May 1, when a Buncombe County deputy found his car, with its hazard lights on, stopped on the side of Interstate 240. (On the video the police spokesman says that the suspect's vehicle was stopped in the rightmost travel lane.)
"Deputies said Carranza drove away when they knocked on his window, and that they had to chase him at 45 mph, for three miles. They said when Carranza stopped, they had to pull him out of the car.
"Deputies said Carranza appeared intoxicated, though he was later deemed sober by a Breathalyzer test. They said a narcotics dog alerted officers to check Carranza's baggage, and multiple narcotics field tests determined that the substances were cocaine.
So why are you posting lying leftist propaganda on FR?
...and trump up charges. Geez.
You mean the same Deputies that thought tortilla mix was cocaine. Those Deputies? You made me laugh.
From your link: “(Buncombe County Sheriff) Duncan said that after this mistake, the department is concerned about its narcotics field tests, and that he is working with the manufacturers to see what went wrong.”
The police said that they field tested the substance for narcotics and it came back with a (false) positive result and so they proceeded appropriately.
Do you have some additional information regarding these tests?
Or is it that the one thing you are bringing to this thread is a giant nasty attitude that was instilled in you by leftists for the purposes of destroying our society and you are simply too stupid and arrogant to realize that this is what you are doing?
Name calling? Logic Fail. You lose.
And your point is what?
It seems to me that they should be concerned about the tests if they are returning false positives.
But is the existence of faulty field testing procedures any reason to tell leftist lies portraying the police as incompetent and racist?
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